The Unexpected
by midnightmich
Summary: She was a lab rat, not a superhero. Hell, she didn't even believe in heroes. After her escape from the laboratory she just wanted to live a normal life, well as normal as it could be for her. However, befriending Steve Rogers AKA Capt. America wasn't the best idea considering he was indirectly the reason why she wasn't normal. Full Summary inside. Eventual OCxCaptain America
1. Introduction

The Unexpected

**Hey I'm Back again with another story because Avengers has now caught my interest and yeah. Let's see how far I will last on this story. xD**

**Summary: She doesn't have a name; I mean does a lab really have a name? She has lived her life as a lab rat to an underground government laboratory set on replicating the serum that created Captain America. After being the only child that survived the alternate serum, she never saw the light of day especially after she gained some unexpected powers. For years she lived following the rules of the scientists in the laboratory and undergoing painful experiments. However, at the age of eighteen, she managed to escape the clutches of the scientists and has been lying low. She moves from city to city in order to make it harder to track her down and at the age of twenty one she has settled in the city of Manhattan for a short amount of time. While she's there, she unexpectedly meets Steve Rogers and the both of them develop a close friendship. However, her past finally catches up to her when she reveals her past to Steve and discovers his identity as Captain America. **

**Set pre-Avengers, Avengers, and post-Avengers. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avengers, Captain America or the other superheroes in Avengers. Only my character that has yet to have a name.**

**Talking: **Well, that was a bit unexpected.

**Thoughts: **_This can't get any worse right?_

* * *

_**M's POV**_

_Dream_

_I was running down the same familiar white corridors that I walked through for at least fourteen years of my life. However, instead of going to another section of the laboratory, I was running to find a way out. I was constantly looking behind me to check and make sure no one was following me; I did not want to go get caught and get forced back onto a surgical table. Moments later, alarms went off, blaring loudly and echoing throughout the halls. The red flashing lights made me speed up even though I was too fast for any normal human to catch. I could not let them catch me again, I would not go back there to that hell hole and I was going to make sure I made it out alive. I heard voices up ahead and I gritted my teeth as I prepared myself to fight the men who thought they could stop me. With a small knife that I managed to pick up from one of the guards that I knocked unconscious minutes ago, I stabbed my arm and with a flowing motion, I took out at least 700 ml of blood and with a sight flick of my wrist, I made a whip out of my blood decapitating the men who never saw my attack coming as I turned the corner. _

"_Sorry," I muttered as I ran past the dead bodies of the soldiers, their blood mixing into my own. "But I'm not going back. Not now, not ever."_

"_That's what you think." A chilling voice chuckled over the intercom, stopping me in my tracks. My body froze on the spot, refusing to move as the voice continued to speak. "Do you honestly think that you'll escape from me? Remember, I created you. I own you and no matter where you run or hide, I will always find you. You can never escape from me." He said before the intercom died and I felt the familiar piercing of a syringe, stabbing me in the neck._

"_No." I cried as I felt the effects of the poison quickly spreading to the rest of my body. "No, I can't…go…back…I can't….." I slurred as my vision began to fail and my legs could no longer support me. Before I passed out though, I saw the gleaming emerald eyes of my tormentor as he saw me losing consciousness._

"_But you will."_

_End Dream_

"NO!" I screamed as I shot up from my creaking bed, expecting to be back in my white cold cell that I lived for fourteen years. As my eyes began adjusting to the dark room, I noticed that I was not back in my cell and I relaxed a bit. "It's ok. It was just a dream, HE has no idea where you are and most importantly, you're not back in some laboratory." I muttered as ran my hand through my damp back hair as I tried to calm my nerves down. I looked to my left to see red numbers on the old fashion alarm clock and I groaned at the time. It was only five a.m. and I was sure I wasn't going back to sleep after that nightmare. "Time to take a shower and walk around, that should take at least two hours." I muttered as I threw the thin blankets off me and walked towards the bathroom. "There better hot water this time, I made sure to pay the rent on time."

Hello. My name is…well just call me M for now, you know to stand for mysterious since I don't even know my name. I don't remember what it was and everyone back at that hell hole made sure to never reveal my name or my file to me. It also didn't help that the scientists usually called me subject 0002345 for as long as I can remember. So M for now. I'm twenty-one years old…or was it twenty….aww fuck it, I'm twenty-one. The last time I looked into the mirror I saw brown eyes staring wearily at me due to the lack of sleep, my median length uneven black hair tied in a messy pony tail and my black choker to cover my barcode tattoo that had the numbers 0002345. My life…it hasn't been the best.

I know I had parents; there are times when I dream of them. Where the three of us would smile and laugh without a care in the world and everything was perfect, but something happened and I ended up at an orphanage. I guessed they died or something. I lived at the orphanage for a couple weeks before my life went downhill. One night, I awoke to the sound of a gunshot and screaming. I remember running out of my room towards the source of the noise and I saw the dead body of the caretaker and a couple of kids getting ushered away by a group of men in black suits and dark glasses. Before I could run out of there, someone grabbed me from behind and knocked me out. The next thing I remembered, I was in a white cold room with nothing but a white shirt and pants. As I looked around I saw the other kids from the orphanage wearing the same thing. The older ones tried to look brave and held the younger ones as they cried, traumatized by the event. Moments later the door opened and a group of scientists walked in behind a younger man with messy black hair and a distinguished black lab coat. Even though he smiled sweetly at us his eyes told us he was anything but sweet. His emerald green eyes stared at us as he talked about something before his eyes landed on me and if possible, his eyes suddenly had an evil gleam to it.

"I'm going to enjoy working with the ones that survive this test." He said as he left the room while the other scientists grabbed us and forced us into separate rooms. I remember my room was the farthest from the rest but that didn't mean I couldn't hear the screams of the other children as they entered their room. I tried to escape the grasp of my scientist, but he just kicked me in the chest and once we entered the room, forcefully strapped me down onto an examining table. Seconds later, the scientist stabbed my arm with a syringe and I felt a hot liquid enter my blood stream. The burning that came after…I have yet to feel something equivalent to the pain I felt that day. It felt as if the liquid was burning my body from the inside out, never cooling down and spreading throughout the rest of my body. I remember screaming for the pain to stop, I begged them to help me as the burning intensified but all the scientist did was stand back and watched as I passed out.

When I came back to conscious, I was back in the same room where I woke up with the rest of the kids only…there were five of us left out of the twenty they brought before. The young man with the black lab coat came back and this time explained what he did to us. Apparently he wanted to duplicate the serum that created the first superhuman, Captain America, and create his own superhuman that would listen to his every word. He said that the syringe held his version of the serum and that we were the chosen ones for the experiment and expected great results from us. Hell began for us that day and within a month…I was the only survivor. It didn't help that later on I developed powers, powers that pleased the crazed scientist…the power to control the four major elements; Fire, water, earth, and air. They trained me to control my powers and used many painful methods to make sure I got it quickly. By the time I was fourteen, I had mastered all four elements. However, once I escaped the hell hole I quickly learned I had more potential. On full moons I had found that my water manipulation was stronger than any other days and I could control the water from inside the plants and take water out of them. And one time when I was really angry, I managed to crush a small piece of metal which led me to believe that with more practice I could eventually manipulate metallic objects.

"Ma'am." A feminine voice said, snapping me out of my memories. I looked up and saw a woman in her late thirties holding a cup of coffee. "Here's your order."

"Ah thanks." I muttered as I took the hot cup of coffee and gave her a dollar tip. "Have a nice morning." I said as I walked out of one of the oldest coffee shop in Manhattan which was the only one that opened around six in the morning. I adjusted my worn out leather jacket as I walked towards my apartment to hang out until I had to work around six p.m.

_It's been nearly what…three years since I've escaped that hell hole and yet…I still have nightmares of that place. Why though? I should be over it by now, but why….why is it every time I dream of that night, I can't but help feel…scared? _ As I pondered on this thought, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, nor did I hear the steady thumping of a person running until a rock hard body literally ran into me, knocking the wind out of me and sent me flying to the ground. Losing my grip on my coffee cup, it fell onto my shirt burning my skin before I could grab it.

"Ow! Hot!" I shouted as I tried to stop the coffee from spreading throughout the rest of my shirt.

"Sorry," a Brooklyn accent voice said across from me, and held out a hand in front of me. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I looked up and saw a young well built blond man in his early twenties perhaps, looking apologetically at me. His blue eyes stared at me with a bit of worry before I took his hand and he helped me up.

"No, it's my fault," I sighed as I dusted the dirt off my only good pair of jeans despite having a large hole covered by bandages on my right thigh. "I was lost in my thought and I didn't notice my surroundings, so it's no problem um…mister…."

"Steve Rogers ma'am." He politely said as he gave me his name.

"It's no problem Steve." I smiled at him. I don't think I ever met a polite man ever since I escaped that hell hole, it was a nice change.

"But still, I ruined your shirt. I have to repay you back…"

"Peggy Smith." I quickly said providing him a fake name. He looked shocked for a moment before he regained his smile.

"Miss Smith, I think I should at least take you out for coffee since I made you spill it over you. It's the least I can do."

"That's really not necessary Steve, really—"

"I insist." I sighed in defeat; it seemed I couldn't change his mind.

"Fine, but let go home first to change out of this shirt. It's not far from here so you can wait here." I said, "I promise I'll come back. Scout's honor." Steve chuckled lightly.

"I'll wait here then." I smiled at him before I turned around and began to jog back to my cheap apartment. In less than two minutes I made it back and within another minute I had found another shirt to change into. Unsurprisingly, it was the exact same tank top only black instead of red this time. Quickly grabbing my spare money and keys I quickly locked the door behind me and jogged back to the park where Steve was waiting.

"You know, this is probably the stupidest thing you ever done." I mumbled to myself as I came closer to the park. "For all you know, he could be working for HIM. But no, you decide to go out with him because he seemed honestly nice and you liked the change for once."

"Miss Smith!" Steve's voice rang out as I finally reached the same spot where Steve and I bumped into each other. He was sitting on the bench about ten feet away and began walking towards me. I gave him a small smile as he got nearer.

"Call me Peggy, Miss Smith sounds old and I'm not that old just yet." He hesitated for a moment before he smiled softly.

"Very well…Peggy. Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Sure, where are we going?" I asked as the two of us began walking back towards the city.

"Well it's a bit on the old fashioned side so I hope you don't mind. It's James's Coffee Shop." I turned around and gave him a surprised look.

"You know that place? Huh, I didn't think too many people know it. It's a shame, they sell really good coffee and they open really early." It was Steve's turn to look at me with surprise.

"You go there?" I chuckled at him as we reached the bust city streets.

"I'm practically their number one customer ever since I came to live here. The coffee they make," I smiled as I remembered my first taste of coffee at that place, "There's nothing that can match it. Perhaps it's because they still brew it old fashion, sometimes things done the old fashion way have the best results." I said as we waited at a crosswalk.

"Yeah, there are times when the past is better than the future." He muttered a bit sadly. As I looked at him, his eyes dulled in color as if he was thinking deeply about something. Perhaps he wished to be back in the past…no his facial expression seems as if he longed for it instead.

"But we can never go back to the past," I said as I pulled on Steve's hand as the light turned green for us to walk, "and sometimes I guess that's the best depending on your situation. So all you can do is look towards the future and make the best of it I suppose." A pair of blonde eyebrows shot up in surprise once again. I guess not many people out there think like I do; then again, we should all be glad that only a small number of people have experienced the horror I've been through. He chucked lightly before nodding.

"Yeah... I guess so..." We continue to ask each other questions, most of them relating to things we liked and I surprised him with my answer of 'honestly I don't know,' I guess he never met someone who didn't have favorite things. We made it back to the coffee shop where the waitress greeted me again.

"Vanilla cappuccino?"

"You know me so well." I smiled as I got out a five dollar bill to pay for my drink. "What about you Steve? What will you have?"

"Just an espresso, ma'am." Steve said, smiling sweetly at the waitress who swooned at the sight of him.

"Right away sir. Your drinks will be ready in a moment." She said as he turned away and began to prepare our drinks. Once she gave us our drinks minutes later, we decided to sit down at one of the nearby tables to finish our coffee. We drank our coffee silently for a couple minutes before Steve wiped his mouth with a nearby napkin and cleared his throat.

"So Peggy...What brings you to Manhattan? I-If you don't mind my asking, of course." How was I supposed to answer? I did not want to give away too much, but…I was a bit tired of coming up with different stories every time I met someone new. Several thoughts raced through my head. If I told him the truth, things would get a lot more complicated. For example, if I gave Steve an alternate truth then I would have to stick with that story and that could make it easier for HIM to find me. I guess I took longer than I thought to answer. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled bashfully.

"You don't even have to answer it if it makes you uncomfortable. Umm... Well, why don't I tell you about myself? Just to break the ice."

"Um no that's fine." I chuckled nervously as I took a sip of my coffee that had been cooling down for a while. "I'm um actually here on my own. I always heard how lovely New York was and when I turned eighteen I thought why not come here. And after saving enough money, I finally moved here just two months ago."

_Well that was the lamest lie you ever told. Do you honestly expect him to believe that?_

"What about you? What brings you to Manhattan?" I asked hoping that he did buy my lie. He then chuckled nervously.

"Um, I was kind of forced to go here. I'm originally from Brooklyn and my friend thought it would be good for me if I saw different parts of New York. So just like you, I just recently moved here."

"So you don't like it here?" I asked, "I mean, I wouldn't like to live in a place where someone forced me to live." He shook his head,

"It's still New York, my home state, but it's just a different part of it. I can't hate it. Sure I miss my friends back home, but I can't say I hate living here either. It's a bitter-sweet feeling I guess, since I've met all kinds of people who helped me get used to this place."

"Really?" I asked. "That...wonderful." I said with a sad smile. "There's not many nice people out in the world nowadays. It's nice to know that people like that exist." I sighed as I took another gulp of my coffee. Steve was probably the only nicest person I've met...well besides my co-worker at the bar, but even then, I have yet to meet a genuinely nice person. It's really childish of me, but I wished there were more people like them in the world. Perhaps if there was...no one would have suffered like me.

His eyebrows furrowed slightly. "You don't really seem that happy to be living here. Why is that? Is the city not what you expected it to be?"

"It's not the city!" I quickly said nearly shouting. Other customers looked at me with a bit of annoyance before they turned back to their own conversations. Blushing a bit from embarrassment, I continued with a lower voice."The city's wonderful, really it is. It's better than I thought but...living on your own, not knowing anyone...it's a bit depressing. That's all"

He seemed to be startled by my sudden outburst and seem to choose his words more carefully from that point. He managed to give me an empathetic smile before saying

"I know what you mean. Hearing about a city or seeing it in a photograph isn't the same as actually living in it. Everyone you pass by on the streets has their own life to attend to. Most of the time I feel... out of place."

"Same here..." I muttered. "I don't think I'll ever fit in anywhere. Not with the past I've had." I whispered quietly. I did really feel out of place. I had no idea how this place really worked. I was not up to date with technology; hell I don't even know how to even work a cell phone or a computer even though I lived in the outside world for at least three years. I just...didn't fit in. Nor would I ever.

"What was that? I didn't quite catch that." Steve asked and I shook my head.

"It's nothing." I said as I forced a smile, "So…um do you still want to talk because I don't have work until six pm and I would enjoy the company. Unless you have other plans, I don't mind really—"

"Sure, that would be nice." Steve interrupted me. "Do you want to walk around town? You can show me all you know about this part of Manhattan if you want." Steve said as the both of us stood up at the same time. I laughed softly.

"Truth to be told, I don't really know the city very well. All I know is the area of my apartment, this coffee shop and my work which are relatively close to each other. So I'm not exactly the person you should ask to know where the best spots are." Steve opened the door for me as we walked out of the coffee shop.

"Well that makes two of us. Why don't we try and get to know Manhattan better together then?" Steve suggested. "Since we don't know the place well." I laughed whole-heartedly.

"Why not, I mean two people who don't know Manhattan very well should have some interesting adventures right?" Steve chuckled along with me.

"True. So where to first?" I pondered for a moment before I pointed down a street.

"Let's down this street and see it where it leads. I've never been down here before so it should be fun." I stared walking down the street before I looked back and smiled back at Steve. "Well come on, we don't have all day." He gave me a smile before he caught up with me.

"Let's go."

* * *

"I'm not late am I?" I muttered as I quickly walked towards one of the city's most popular nightclub. However, at the moment, there were hardly any cars despite it being nearly time for bars and/or clubs to open. "Then why is it so empty?" I entered through the side door, putting my hair into a pony-tail as I tried to smooth out the wrinkles of my uniform. Inside I saw all the employees rushing around, preparing drinks, taking out the most expensive cups that our manager never lets us use, and wiping down tables.

"Oh! Samantha!" one of the employees, Nicole, called out as she saw me. "Thank goodness you're here. Help me take out these drinks." She said as she motioned to the large crate behind her.

"What's going on? Why are we taking out these expensive drinks," I began as I took out a really expensive brand of whiskey, "Why are we taking out the nice glass cups and why are we rushing around? Usually it's not like this."

"Don't you remember? Arthur told us that a celebrity is going to come to the bar today and he wants everything to be really nice and perfect."

"I must have zoned out," I muttered as I stacked the bottles into the cooling fridge underneath the bar. "His voice gets annoying." Nicole merely chuckled.

"You just don't want to admit that you forgot." I smiled brightly at her.

"You caught me. But I have a question, who's coming here?" I asked.

"Anthony Stark." I stared blankly at her, not really knowing who he was. "You know, the CEO of Stark Industries?" I blinked still not giving any signs that I knew him. "The playboy billionaire philanthropist?" Still nothing "Iron Man!"

"Oh, that guy. Great. I'm not in the mood to deal with a narcissist." I groaned as I grabbed another crate of alcohol and lifted it with no problem.

"JONES YOU BETTER NOT DROP THAT CRATE!" Arthur's voice, my boss, shouted from the back of the room, nearly causing me to drop it.

"HAVE I EVER DROPPED A CRATE BEFORE?" I yelled back. "Jackass."

"I heard that." Arthur said as he came up towards us. With blonde messy hair and emerald eyes, our British managed the popular Emerald Club for five years and had no intentions of retiring. I rolled my eyes, but I still smiled at him. While he was a jackass at times, he was the only one willing to give me a job even though I had no papers. And he did have a nice side to him, but it was hidden beneath the bitterness he had towards most people because people at bars were usually jackasses causing him to be snarky most of the time. "Nice of you to join us. I'm sure Nicole has updated you on our situation correct?" I nodded.

"That Iron Man guy is coming here and partying right?"

"Correct. Now I know you're usually in charge of stock, but I'm low on waitresses tonight so I'm going to have you wait Mr. Stark."

"What!" I shouted as I none to gently place the crate of drinks on the floor. "Why do I have to serve him! Have another girl do it; I'm sure they'd be delighted to serve the famous Iron Man."

"That's exactly why you're going to serve him." Arthur explained. "The other lasses would be distracted by his fame and not provide him with the best service The Emerald Club has to offer. Therefore you will be serving him."

"But I don't have a uniform." I argued, "So I can't serve him."

"We have spars in the back."

"There might not be my size."

"I have every size available."

"You hate me don't you." I groaned as picked up a drink helped Nicole put away the alcoholic drinks.

"Just a bit. After you're done with this, come to the back so you can get changed. And hurry up on the drinks; it's going to get busy."

"Yes Arthur." Both Nicole and I said at the same time as he turned and began barking orders to the other employees.

"So how was your day today?" Nicole asked as she placed a drink away. "Did anything exciting happen?" I smiled fondly as I remembered the events in the morning and afternoon. Steve and I had spent the rest of the day exploring Manhattan, easily excited by the new stores and technology the city provided and also shocked how advanced this millennium was. Steve was especially shocked by the way society acted if his shocked expression was anything to go by whenever we passed women cursing on the streets or them wearing rather revealing clothing. In the end, we ate at an old fashion dinner after being nearly overwhelmed by all the modern stores and stuff. We even agreed to meet up again in two days at the park where we first met to continue our adventure. For once, I was actually looking forward to meeting a person.

"Yeah—"

"What happened! You have to tell me! It's like the first time you ever smiled like that! Did you meet someone?"

"One question at a time Nicole." I laughed as I finished placing the bottles away. "Yes, I met someone who I plan to met again and—"

"Jones!" Arthur called me, "Get your arse back here! It's nearly time and I still have to teach you how to be a proper waitress." I gave an apologetic smile to Nicole.

"I'll tell you later. Coming!" I shouted back as I walked towards the back room.

"Don't stress out too much! You'll be a great waitress." Nicole smiled as she called over another employee to help her.

"It's not my skills I'm worried about." I muttered, "I just hope Mr. Iron Man doesn't piss me off."

* * *

"And remember, no matter how annoying they get, the customer is always right." Arthur lectured me as he helped me fix my choker. "Now, I hope you—"

"I won't start a fight I promise." I sighed as I retied my pony tail again. "But if he's being a jackass then the gloves are coming off." Arthur just sighed.

"Just make sure you don't break anything." Bending down, I fixed the boots that accompanied the outfit before looking at myself in the mirror. When you're working at a club, your outfit will usually be…revealing. I wore rather short black shorts and an emerald tank top (with a lion in front of the shirt) that stops around my midriff. Without my leather jacket on, you could see on my both of my arms I had wrappings around it. On my left arm, bandages covered it while my right arm was covered with a leather arm protector. They covered up the scars I had from all the syringe stabbing I endured and I never take them off. I actually had to convince Arthur to let me have them on and that cost me an hour's salary. Anyways back to my waitress outfit, the black boots nearly went up to my knee and they had two inches heels. Luckily they were rather thick so I had low chances of falling flat on my butt.

"I'll try."

"Jones." Arthur said in a warning town and I laughed.

"Ok, ok. I won't break anything I promise."

"Good. Now Mr. Stark should be here any moment so get out there and greet him." Arthur said as he pushed me out of the back room and to the bar. The DJ was already blasting music and the dancers had taken their position on the stage. Some of the employees were already brewing some drinks and pouring them into cups before placing them on trays for us waitress to carry to the customers. Outside the door, I could hear the laughter and chatter of young women along with the sound of cameras flashing.

"So how many people are actually coming?" I asked as I stood in line with the other waitresses. Arthur fixed his tie and cleared his throat.

"Let's just say…even the second floor will be used today." I looked at him wide eyed but before I could say anything, Arthur went to open the door to greet the man of the hour.

"Mr. Stark, it's a pleasure that you decided to have your party at my humble nightclub." A man standing around six feet with dark brown, nearly black, short hair, along with a small goatee stood next to several women who giggled happily. The smirk he wore on his face made the waitresses around me giggle as well and I wanted to groan.

_This is going to a long night._ I thought as the man introduced himself as Anthony (Tony) Stark CEO of Stark Industries.

"Well, Mr. Stark Miss Jones here will be your personal waitress toady in your VIP room on the second floor. If you need anything just ask her." Arthur said as he motioned me to introduce myself.

"It will be my pleasure to serve you today Mr. Stark." I said in my most polite voice I could muster. "If you and your party will follow me to the second floor, I will be happy you serve you your drinks." I turned around and began walking up the steps that lead to the second floor.

"Lead the way Miss Jones." He chuckled as he and his group followed me and Arthur let the rest of the party inside the club.

The night was sadly a long one. Mr. Stark continuously got on my nerves, which I began to think that he was doing it on purpose. He would ask for a certain drink, but when I came back with the requested drink he would say that he changed his mind and wanted something else instead. He called me Sam even though my nametag said Samantha and as he got drunker, he tried flirting with me. I was ready to punch him in the face and damn the consequences!

"Arthur, seriously! Put another person in charge of him!" I shouted over the loud music on the first floor as I came back down for another drink that Mr. Stark requested. "I can't take him anymore! I really don't see why people like him! One bottle of that damn whiskey!" I shouted to the bartender as I slammed my tray down. Arthur sighed as he threw this towel over his shoulder.

"It's only for another hour or so. His secretary Pepper Potts called and said that she's picking him up. Apparently he wasn't even supposed to go out." I smiled at that information.

"Well, it looks like even Mr. CEO has a curfew. I think I can last another hour." I sighed as I picked up the tray with the new Whiskey bottle on it. "But I want at least a ten dollar raise for dealing with him. Seriously, he's like an over grown kid who's too damn smart." Arthur chuckled as he lightly slapped my shoulder.

"One dollar. I hear he gives rather good tips to his waitresses so you won't need the extra raise."

"You better be right about that!" I shouted back at him as I walked up the stairs. As I entered Mr. Stark's VIP room, the women from earlier surrounded him and began giggling as he began telling his story as Iron Man.

"And there I was, surrounded by hundreds of Drones. Rhodes and I fought our way through them to get to Vanko. He had upgraded his suit so it was difficult to damage his suit. We continued to fight him and it's only when our repulsor rays collided and created a large explosion that we finally got him. However, that bastard decided to self-destruct his suit and the drones in hopes of killing all of us. We showed him though we escaped unharmed."

"Oh wow, that was so heroic of you." One of the girls said.

"To go up against an army of droids especially when you're outnumbered—"

"And not to mention how you stopped a group of terrorists from using your weapons to be used against us. You're truly a hero." I rolled my eyes at her statement. Mr. Stark finally noticed my presence and smiled at me.

"Why thank you Sam for bringing me my drink." He said as he grabbed the bottle of Whiskey before I could even place it on the table. "Did you manage to hear my heroic tales?" He asked.

"Only parts of it."

"Don't you think he's a hero?" One of the women asked as she clung onto Mr. Starks's arm and giggled uncontrollably. She was probably drunk off her ass.

"No I actually don't." I said as I picked up the empty glasses. "I don't believe that heroes exist, only good Samaritans. Because if heroes existed….then no one in the world would suffer. So I consider Mr. Stark a good Samaritan. Nothing more, nothing less." I said before turning around and began to make my way to the stairs before a voice stopped me.

"Oh?" Mr. Stark said before he sat up a bit straighter. "Then do you consider Iron Man simply a good Samaritan? Because he is much more than that my dear." He smirked. I frowned at him as I placed the try down on a nearby table.

"Iron Man? He's something that was created by science…and I hate science." I growled out as I remembered my time in that hell hole. All they would talk about was science and even though I eventually grew to understand it, I hated the subject with a passion.

"Maybe 2% science, but the other 98% is all genius. My genius to be exact." My eye twitched angrily at his reply.

"You sure are full of yourself Mr. Stark." I growled out. "That's going to bite you in the ass one day."

"I beg to differ. It's all about perspective, Sammie~ You don't know the real Me. So you see it as arrogance. But I…I know myself better than anyone else. And I believe I have the right to brag because I can follow it up with action." I scowled at his new nickname for me and how increasing arrogant he was getting.

"Well, if you didn't act like an arrogant jackass then perhaps I wouldn't have come to that conclusion." I argued. The women at this point had left as soon as we started arguing and we were left alone. The music downstairs could still be heard even though this room was sound proof according to Arthur. "Well if you are a genius as you say you are then why do you need a suit to help you fight? Without it, you're just a person with brains. Brains can only do so much to help people."

"Because I am I genius. That's why I choose to fight with the suit. Only an idiot would agree to fight the enemies I've faced with brains. You wouldn't stand a chance out there. Leave it to the big boys and just keep looking pretty~" My patience was wearing thin. This man knew how to get under people's skin, but he made one fatal mistake. He messed with me.

"You're really pissing me off right now, and when you piss me off, it's not pretty." I growled out as I leaned in. "And just so you know, I'm pretty sure I would survive better than you out there because I've learn that looking pretty doesn't do shit for you. So no, I will not leave anything to the big boys." He shrugged.

"It works better for certain people. Look at me. Even if I didn't inherit my father's company, don't you think I would've made one dashing actor? Sending the hearts of beautiful women around the world fluttering." He laughed as he took another swing of whiskey. I couldn't take it anymore; I grabbed the bottle of whiskey from his hands, and poured the rest of its contents onto his hair.

"I think I was wrong about you Mr. Stark. You are not a good Samaritan. You're just a shallow drunk CEO who loves attention. I feel sorry for people like you." I stood up straight but before I could take another step, a hand roughly grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"I think you owe an apology." Mr. Stark said as he stared angrily at me. I tried to pull back but he wouldn't let go.

"I won't apologize until you prove me wrong." I tried hitting him with the nearby tray, but despite being drunk, he still managed to dodge it. With no more weapons on me, I resorted to my powers. If he was drunk then he would just think that this was a trick and nothing more. Gathering all the drinks and whiskey that were left over, I made a 'come at me bro' motion with my left hand. Mr. Stark stared at my hand curiously before his face was drenched with the alcohol and he let go of me. Taking this opportunity, I dropped to the floor and kicked his legs sending him tumbling to the floor. "But I don't think you will." Grabbing my fallen tray, I stomped down the stairs where a red haired woman was talking to Arthur. Hearing my stomping Arthur turned towards me but before he could utter a word, I shoved the tray into his hands.

"Samantha what—"

"He's a fucking jackass, I don't care if kicking him will get me fired, but I do not want to be near him ever again." I shouted out as I stormed to the back room. "I'm leaving!" I screamed once I finished changing back to my normal attire of a blue tank top, black jeans, combat boots, and a worn out leather jacket. Without looking back, I walked angrily out the side door and began my long walk home in the middle of the night.

"I HATE GUYS LIKE HIM!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

* * *

"So I'm guessing last night didn't go so well." Nicole sighed as I entered the back room again stomping angrily carrying a crate of beverages. Luckily Arthur said I didn't have to wait tables today so I was back to my job of storage along with Nicole. Thank god, if I had to be a waitress again…I think I would have seriously broken something.

"It was horrible." I growled as I dropped a crate of bottles onto the floor none to gently. "I honestly don't see why girls like him so much! He's just UGH!" Nicole looked apologetically at me.

"It could have been worse. He could have sued you."

"And he would get nothing." I growled out as I took out a bottle and placed it on a shelf. "The most expensive thing I have would probably be these twenty dollar boots I'm wearing. And if he took my apartment, well that would give me an excuse to live here and not worry about if I have hot water or not.

"Jones!" Arthur called from the front. "Someone's here to see you." I looked at Nicole with confusion. Who would want to see ME personally? It couldn't be Steve since I didn't really tell him where I worked and I couldn't really think of anyone else.

"Coming!" throwing the towel over my shoulder I walked out to the front leaving Nicole behind in the backroom. "Who wanted to—fuck no." I snarled out as I saw the person I hated with a passion at the moment…Tony Stark, but surprisingly he was with the same red haired woman Arthur was talking to last night "Arthur—"

"Jones, don't start now." Arthur sighed as he took my towel and placed it over his shoulder. "Just hear him out."

"Fine," I sighed angrily before I glared at Mr. Stark. "What do you want?"

"Well besides an apology from you," he began before the red head woman punched him in the shoulder, "Well, Pepper here is forcing me to apologize for my actions last night—"

"Not accepted." I said as turned around only to be stopped by Arthur. "What? It's not like he means it." Arthur merely raised his eyebrows.

"True—Ow! Pepper." Both of them sighed at us.

"Please Jones, just apologize—"

"Not until he means it which I have a feeling will be quite some time." I said as I glared at Tony, "So no I won't apologize."

"Ok, then I won't apologize." Tony huffed in annoyance.

"Fine by me."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Well, if we're done here, I'm going back to work." I said shoving Arthur's arm off my shoulder. "I hope we never meet again Mr. Stark."

"Come on Tony, let's get going." The woman dubbed Pepper said before Mr. Stark could say anything else. She pulled him out of the doorway and towards a black luxury car. As Mr. Stark walked towards the car, I stomped my foot lightly to raise the earth in front of his foot where he comically fell onto the floor. I laughed as he dusted himself off and looked back at me curiously. I rolled my eyes at him and turned around but just as I was making my way towards the back room again, Arthur blocked my path.

"Jones…" He said in a warning tone that could only mean one thing.

"Fuck, this is coming out of my paycheck isn't it." He merely raised his eyebrow at me. "And it looks like I'm going to do overnights and afternoon as well huh."

"Damn right you are. Get back to work Jones. And don't slack off."

"Yes Arthur." I sighed as I went back to the back room where Nicole was waiting for me. "It's official, I hate Mr. Stark with more passion then I ever realized."

"LESS TALKING AND MORE LIFTING!" Arthur yelled and I mentally cursed Mr. Stark for my misfortune.

* * *

"And that's why I've been tired these past few days." I yawned as I explained to Steve the growing bags under my eyes. The bags had grown darker with each passing day; I was beginning to think I'd have to live with them for the rest of my life. "My overnight shifts and afternoon shifts have been taking their toll, but today's my last day of having to work both, so don't worry about me." I smiled tiredly at Steve who didn't look every convinced.

"Are you sure? We don't have to walk around the city today if you're really tired—" I shook my head at him.

"I'm good really. I've gone without sleep for longer periods of times before. Besides, we still need to finish our tour of the city." I said as we continued our walk through the city.

After the incident with Mr. Stark, Arthur has been working me to the bone. I guess it's his own way of punishing me for my actions. I worked from early in the afternoon until around three in the morning, and then I would wake up early in the morning to meet up with Steve. Whatever my work schedule was, I made it a goal not to let anything prevent me from walking around the city and discovering new things with him. It was the only thing I looked forward to in my otherwise monotonous daily life. With all that going on and not enough rest, my body has surprisingly started slowing down.

"So do you want me to beat him up for you?" Steve suddenly asked as we rounded a corner.

I snapped my head up in surprise and before I could stop myself I shouted, "NO!" Steve jumped in shock at my loud outburst, which caused me to blush a deep shade of red. "I mean... I-It's not necessary," I muttered incoherently as I rubbed my neck out of embarrassment.

While I didn't want him to unnecessarily get involved with my problem the truth was, I really didn't want him to meet up the jackass called Stark. One, I'm sure Stark would somehow rile Steve up as well. And two, it would bring my different lives together. Steve doesn't know about my Samantha Jones identity nor did he know where I work. And Stark…Well, I just don't want him to know about my other life as Peggy Smith. For some reason, I think it would give more reason for Stark to bug me. And I don't want to deal with him any more than I have to. In other words, I would like my separate lives to stay as separate as possible.

"I was just kidding." Steve chuckled awkwardly. "I wouldn't get into your personal business unless you wanted me to."

"Oh…" I said lamely. "Sorry for my outburst then. It's just that... I'm used to fighting my own battles, I guess you can say. I never had anyone do anything for me, so if I wanted anything done I had to do it on my own. And I guess I prefer it that way so other people won't get hurt." I said running a nervous hand through my hair.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Steve said with a bit of sadness etched into his voice. "When it comes to involving other people into your problems…it's best if you do it on your own if it means that they don't have to get hurt." I looked at him and his eyes glazed over for a moment as if recollecting a memory before he blinked and his eyes returned to his normal sky blue eyes. "Is there something on my face?" he asked, noticing my stare.

"No." I said as I looked away, "Anyways, I should get going." I said as I stood up and stretched my arms. We had finished exploring another part of Manhattan and sat down at a nearby ice cream parlor beforehand. "I have work in about half an hour. Same time and same place tomorrow?"

Steve smiled as he stood up as well. "Yeah, if you're still up to it."

I smiled and shook my head at him. "Of course I'll be up for it. These adventures... They've uh... They've been fun. Even better with someone to enjoy them with..." I chuckled at him happily. This was probably the first time I ever had a really good time with anyone. The next thing he did caught me off guard. He flashed me a genuine smile that I hadn't seen before. Sure, I've only known him for two weeks or so, but this one was different. It held a different kind of emotion that I could not place at the moment.

"Isn't that the whole reason we decided to explore the new area together?" I blinked several times, unable to register his smile in my head, before I gave him a genuine smile of my own. "Of course. I'll...see you tomorrow then. We still have a lot of places to visit. Take care" I waved at him as I walked towards my work since I didn't have time to change. Arthur probably had an extra uniform for me anyways.

"He should smile like that more often…"I muttered quietly to myself as I walked towards my job. "It looks so nice on him."

Once I made it to my work in record time, I saw Arthur standing by the door with his arms crossed. The scowl on his face told me he was already in a foul mood. I figured it wasn't about me since I just got here-

"Jones! Where have you been?" I looked at him with confusion before I looked at my cheap ass watch on my wrist and saw that for once I was actually early, ten minutes early to be exact. Why was Arthur mad at me then?

"Um Arthur, I'm actually early for once. Why are you getting mad at me? I didn't do anything I swear." I sighed as I tried to pass him. "Unless you scheduled me for an earlier shift and I forgot?" He stretched his arm out, effectively blocking my path. Curse him and his long arms. He didn't even bother looking at the clock before replying.

"Are you talking back to your boss?"

"No." I said before muttering, "I'm just arguing with you."

"Whatever, I'll let it slide for today." He said as he lightly glared at me, "So...I was looking at my records and noticed that you haven't had a day off in a while..." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I haven't had a day off because one, I can't afford to have a day off, and two, I can't afford a day off. This is where I get money to pay my rent, get food, and an occasional outfit." I sighed as I pushed his arm aside and walked into the nightclub. I waved to a couple of the employees there, but before I could go to the back room and change, Arthur grabbed my wrist. "What?"

"In any case, you should take advantage of my rare generosity and take a few days off this following week."

"And why should I do that?" I asked him, growing more suspicious, "I need the money Arthur you know that. Why are you pushing me to have a day off anyways? You never ever let anyone have a day off, let alone for a couple of days. What's going on?" He sighed, exasperated.

"Fine, I'll be honest with you. You'll probably continue to ask if I don't tell you the truth... Someone tried to hack into my employee files. Now, this normally wouldn't raise much suspicion since my employee files are guarded with the best protection ever... But this person tried to get into your file... numerous times within the past hour." I sucked my breath. When Arthur hired me, he had told me straight up that he was a professional computer hacker and knew that I wasn't really Samantha Jones; that I was just a nameless person who appeared in California three years ago which intrigued him since he said he could pull up anyone's file no matter how difficult it was. I was ready to bolt out of there when he told me that despite lying to him he was still willing to give me a chance to work in his club. When I asked him why he told me that he needed the labor and in turn for making up a file for me and making sure no one would be able to access it, he would pay me double more for working for longer hours.

"What?" I asked shakily, "S-someone's trying—why why my file?" My voice became more shaken as I thought of the possibilities of why a person would try and hack my file. And the only person I think of would be HIM. Was it possible that HE heard about my whereabouts and was trying to find out where I lived or work and capture me there? But how was this possible! I made sure to lie as low as possible! "Did they get into the file?" I nearly shouted, as I panicked on the inside.

"Jones, calm down." Arthur placed his arms on my shoulders to steady me. "You can't make a scene in front of everyone. I don't know who did it, I'm still working on tracing the address. But no, whoever it was did not get into your file. That's why I want you to take a break from this place for a while. If they know where you work, then it's only a step away from actually showing up here or worse case scenario your apartment." I took deep breaths as I tried to calm myself down.

"Great" I muttered, "This is what I just need. Now I'm going to be paranoid for the rest of the coming days. I think I should buy extra locks for my doors and windows for tonight" I sighed as I sat down on a nearby chair and covered my face with my hands. How did my day degrade to this? I was having a blast with Steve in the morning and now I'll be looking at every man in a business suit with suspicion. Great, just great.

"Look... Don't you have a friend or relative you can stay with for the next week? It's best if you don't go or stay anywhere by yourself." I shook my head sadly.

"No, I'm...I'm on my own." While Steve was my friend, I didn't want to endanger him. HE was unpredictable to most people, but after living with HIM for years, I knew HE would use Steve in order to get to me. I would not risk Steve's life just so I could have a roof over my head.

Arthur sighed as he ran a hand through his messy blond locks. He looked over everyone in the club, staring at people for different amounts of time as if he was taking everything about the person into consideration before moving onto someone else if they didn't fit his qualifications. He had just about gone through all the people in the club when his eyes landed on Nicole.

"LEE COME HERE FOR A MOMENT" He shouted, surprising the petite employee.

"What?" I looked at him, confused. "What about Nicole?"

"Why don't you stay with her for a while. You two are fr- er... close, aren't you?" I looked over at Nicole who was putting down the bottle of alcohol and began making her way towards us.

"Well, I guess, but I really don't think-"

"Yes Arthur? Do you need anything? Oh hi Samantha~!" Nicole smiled as she waved happily at me.

"Why, yes. I do, actually." Arthur smiled at me smugly. "Can Jones stay at your place for a couple of days? She's er... Her apartment is being fumigated, and she doesn't have family she can stay with."

"What!" I shouted standing up, "That's not-"

"Of course~!" Nicole smiled as she clapped her hands together before grabbing my own and started to jump up and down. "I've always wanted a sleepover and we can bond together! We could tell each other about our love life…wait I don't have a love life…we can play board games together and we could watch Filipino dramas too! This is going to be great! Did you need to get anything from your apartment?" She asked as she finally settled down. I sighed before shaking my head.

"No, I got everything-"

"Great! Well I gotta go back to work. Antonio needs some help with cleaning the tables. See you after your shift!" And Nicole walked off.

"You enjoy manipulating me don't you?" I asked as I glared at him. Arthur smiled as he looked at the retreating figure of Nicole.

"Nice girl, that one. Although she is a bit too enthusiastic at times... And too trusting... Don't take advantage of her, okay?" Arthur smiled a little too brightly at me. I swear I could see mischief in his eyes. "And I wouldn't exactly call it manipulating... This _is_ for your own good, you know."

"What about her own good." I muttered, "I'm not exactly the...the situation that's going on...I'm just worried that she'll get hurt because of me that's all." I sighed as I ran my hand into my hair. "This is putting her in danger you know." Arthur sighed deeply as he placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"I know, but she's your only option left. Besides, they want you not her. And she doesn't know anything, which makes her useless to whoever's after you."

"Let's just hope you're right." I muttered as I stood up and sighed. After hearing that news...I couldn't find it in myself to be cheerful or even look forward to tomorrow. I slowly made my way towards the back room but before I went in, I turned around and gave a small smile to Arthur "And Arthur...thanks for telling me. It's nice to know you care." A shade of pink crept onto his cheeks. He cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away, avoiding eye contact.

"It's not that I care. I just don't want your personal matters to ruin my business, that is all." I chuckled at him.

"Whatever." I closed the door behind me. Once the door was shut, I stood against it for a moment before I slid down to the floor, placed my hands on my face and sobbed lightly. Why did things always have to go so wrong?

* * *

A couple of days passed since Arthur told me that someone was trying to find out about me. Since then, I've been living with Nicole and it's a nice change for once. I didn't have to go back home alone, nor did I have to eat alone and I actually had longer conversations with Nicole. Surprisingly I got to know her better and we became closer, almost as close as I was with Steve. Despite these positive things, I've been rather jumpy still. I couldn't walk down the street without looking back to see if anyone was following me. It became so bad that I even suspected an ice cream truck man to be a spy and attacked him. Luckily the ice cream man didn't press charges when the police came. I was just so paranoid that when I went out with Steve to continue with our daily adventures in Manhattan, he always asked if there was something wrong whenever I looked back. I just couldn't shake off the feeling that something big was going to happen soon. I guess I was too into my thoughts because I didn't notice Steve calling for me until his hand shook my shoulder.

"Hey Peggy, you okay?"

"Yeah," I said as I shook my head to try and get my thoughts organized "It's just, it's been a stressful couple of days." I sighed as we walked down an unfamiliar street where the streets where hardly crowded and the stores were empty. It looked almost abandoned if it weren't for the few people chatting outside the stores. The streets needed maintenance badly, and some of the stores needed their windows replaced due to the piled up dust on the window, some even had large cracks on it.

"I see... Well, you should put your worries aside and enjoy what the city has to offer! Our adventures shouldn't be spoiled, too." He tried to give me a reassuring smile. I smiled back at him even though I was jumpy.

"You're right, I shouldn't be worrying. Today's a beautiful day and-" I paused mid sentence as I saw a man in a business suit and sunglasses sitting at a café table and he looked straight at me. I thought nothing of it first since many men stared at me for the past few days without taking a stun gun and shooting at me, but he then pulled out a walkie talkie and began speaking rapidly into it. As he spoke into the walkie talkie, another man stood up from the street across and began walking straight towards us and that's when I began to panic. "Um, why don't we go down here?" I said as I roughly pulled Steve's arm and led him to an alley where there was even less people. "We should get back on the main street soon, I'm hungry and I want to eat at that burger place we passed about twenty minutes ago."

Steve stumbled before regaining his balance. He laughed lightly, confused at the situation. "Well, if it's burgers the lady wants, then it's burgers she will get. I'm afraid you'll rip my arm out of its socket if I try to argue..."

"Yeah, yeah, sure I will." I said not really paying attention to what I was saying as I looked out for more of those guys. "Let's just get out of here-"

"Um, Peggy, is there something wrong?" Steve asked as he tried to match my speed. "You seem like you're running away from something. Did you see someone?"

"I'll tell you later," I said as I noticed more men and women following us. "But for now, let's just hurry on out here—"

"Not so fast, subject 0002345" a voice called out and a shadowy figure stepped in front of us along with four other men, effectively blocking our path. I pulled Steve back and stood protectively in front of him despite the growing feeling of running away. It wasn't HIS voice but he knew my "name" which meant he was one of the scientists that tortured me. "What? You're not going to say hi to me—"

"How did you find me?" I asked, cutting him off as I pushed Steve back. I looked behind the both of us to see if there was an exit but sadly we were surrounded. The man that spoke up first sighed.

"I see you still haven't changed. What a shame. Oh well we can fix that when we take you back with us. I'm sure Vash will be delighted to see you." He smiled as he took a couple of steps forward along with the rest of the men. Before I could speak up, Steve surprisingly pulled me behind him and spoke up.

"Who says I'll let you take her back with you?" I stared at him wide eyed.

"Steve, what are you—"

"Oh I see you made a friend. How touching. But it really is none of your concern of what we do with her sir," The scientist said as he, and the rest of the men surrounding us, started closing in on us and pointed their guns at the both of us. "And I highly doubt you can stop us."

"Do you really want to test that theory out?" Steve said as he took another step forward, glaring at the men as they pointed their guns at him directly. Not wanting him to get himself in more danger, I pulled him back harshly and whispered into his ear.

"Steve, seriously what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to protect you from these…whoever these guys are." Steve whispered back as he pushed me behind him once again before I could argue with him. The scientist just sighed.

"Subject 0002345 we can either take you by force and your friend here can get hurt in the process or you can come with us quietly and we can spare your friend. Your choice, but make it quick." Biting my lip, I weighed the pros and cons but really it only took me seconds to make my decision. Without wasting another second, I turned to Steve and glared at him hard.

"Leave Steve, this doesn't concern you and I don't want you to get hurt—"

"Peggy, I already told you, I won't leave you behind. Not with these guys." Steve said as he grabbed my arm and forced me to stare at him. "Just let me—"

"Leave Steve." I growled out as I pulled my arm away from his grasp, "You don't know what you're getting into."

"She is right you know," the scientist chuckled, "If you get involved it can end really badly for you. Is she really worth the trouble?" With more force, I placed my hand on his chest and nearly yelled at him

"Get out Steve damn it! Just leave—"

"I already told you Peggy, I won't leave you! I will protect you from these guys, you just have to trust me that I'll be fine. Please Peggy." Steve shouted as he grabbed my shoulder. The way he said it, with so much confidence…it nearly made me want to believe that he would protect me, that I could let someone help me…but I couldn't take that chance. I wouldn't let Steve lose his life just for me, a lab rat.

"As much as I would love to see how this will turn out," the scientist said as he smiled wickedly, "I am really on a tight schedule so….time's up." He snapped his fingers and the men surrounding us pulled the trigger on their guns and multiple bullets shot at us. While I could easily dodge them, Steve wouldn't have a chance.

Knowing what I had to do, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the Earth beneath me. I moved my right foot a bit towards Steve before I lifted it and slammed it hard on the floor. As I slammed my foot, I squatted and placed my left foot so that it aligned right behind my right foot. I lowered my arms near the floor and as I raised myself from my form, large sections of the earth came up and began to surround Steve. He looked at me with bewilderment and I smiled sadly at him.

"I'm sorry Steve but this is for your own good. I'm not worth getting killed for. But….thank you for the memories…I will never forget you."

"Peggy—" The Earth surrounded him in a sphere and without missing a beat I quickly jumped up into the air to avoid the bullets that were shot at us earlier. I'm still amazed how quickly I can manipulate Earth especially how long it took me to master it. I landed on the floor and glared at the men.

"So you think you can catch me…you're dead wrong." I growled as I got into a fighting position.

"I think we can." The scientist laughed as he moved forward taking off his black gloves that I failed to notice before and revealing his blonde slicked back hair and blue eyes. I glared at him even harder as I remembered him…Ludwig, "After all…I was the one who taught you how to fight." He charged at me, and the rest of the other men followed closely behind him.

"Bring it old man." I growled at I ran forward and before I was five feet away from me, I jumped into the air and stuck out my right leg bringing it down as if I was going to kick him with the heel of my foot. Instead, fire shot out from my foot and went straight for Ludwig and the other men. The blonde scientist and a few men dodged the flames, but others weren't so lucky. As I landed on the floor, I sped off back towards the way Steve and I came from to lure them away from Steve who was still trapped in my earth Sphere.

"Running away? Really, have you degraded yourself to such of state? Whatever happened to killing people in cold blood?" Ludwig said as he continued to race behind me. A couple of the other men fired their guns at me but I merely fell to the floor and slammed my hand to create pillars that shot out beneath them and sent at least half of them into the air. Sensing Ludwig behind me, I pushed myself into a handstand position and back flipped in order to doge a round house kick from him. As I landed, more men fired their guns at me leaving me no time to jump out of the way.

Instead I spun around once and shot out my palm creating a wind tunnel that deflected all the bullets. Taking notice of a fire hydrant I directed the wind tunnel towards the fire hydrant. As it made contact with it, it destroyed the upper part of it letting lose a huge amount of water into the air. Taking a deep breath I moved my upper body towards the water and with a soft flowing motion, I moved my hands back towards me, directing the large flow of water towards me. As it came above me, I made a circular motion with my hands creating a halo out of the water. As the men advanced towards me, I stopped my hands and shot them forward causing whips of water to shoot out of the halo and punched the men head on. Once the water hit them though, the water covered their entire body and froze them.

"Well, well, it seems you learned a thing or two out of the lab, I'm surprised." Ludwig chuckled as he rushed towards me. With the remaining water from my halo I created a whip and snapped it at him. He merely side dodged it and aimed a punch at me. Gathering the remaining water I had left, I surrounding both my hands with it. As I dodged his punch, I aimed my own punch at him but he dodged it and placed a front kick at my chest sending me flying. Taking a large breath, I blew a gust of wind out of my mouth to avoid landing on my face. As I flipped in the air, I shot the water from my hands towards him, Turing the water into sharp spears of ice.

"What can I say, outside experiences can teach you more than you know." I grunted as I slammed my foot causing a bolder to shoot up from the ground. As it floated in midair for a moment I punched the bolder breaking it into pieces and sent them flying towards Ludwig. I didn't stop there though, as the rocks flew towards him at high speeds, I punched the air, sending a blast of fire right after the rocks making them hotter.

"Is there anything else you can do? That's just pathetic—what the!" he shouted as ice surrounded his foot.

"Did you forget there's still water flowing onto the streets and we're standing right on it." I said as I motioned to the water below us, "And now you lose!" He merely smirked as he still effectively dodged the fire projectiles.

"No, subject 0002345 you lose." He smiled evilly as he reached into his pockets and pulled out two whips. "This will probably hurt you more than me." He cracked the whips onto the water and before I could even blink, electricity flowed through the whips and traveled through the water electrifying everything…including me.

"AHHHHHH" I screamed as thousands of volts of electricity ran though my body, paralyzing me. I fell to the steamed water twitching and moaning in pain. I tried to get up but my body was still suffering from the after effects.

"And that's how you capture a lab rat." Ludwig chuckled as more men came towards me with chains ready to be placed on me. They roughly lifted me up and cuffed my hands together as a black SUV drove up. Despite my struggling, the men had a good grip on me and I was not getting out anytime soon. The back doors opened and two men made room in the back seat for me. "Nighty night." The scientist said as I got closer to the car.

_No, I can't go back,_ I thought helplessly, _I can't! Someone please! Stop them, help me, just don't let me get back in that car! Please! _I screamed in my head as I tried to use my feet to stop myself. Instead, the men in the car grabbed a hold of my feet and dragged me in that way.

"Hold it right there," a familiar voice said as the door on the other side of the car slammed open and the two men were thrown out of the car. Before the men grabbing me by the shoulder could react, they were thrown off as well. I began to fall backwards, seeing as I no longer had support, but before my head could make contact with the concrete floor, a pair of muscular arms grabbed me. "Peggy! Are you alright?"

"Steve?" I gasped as I slowly began to regain my senses. "What are you doing here? And how did you-that sphere was to protect you!"

"Oh how touching" Ludwig said as he began to walk towards us, still holding the electrical whip. "But we don't have time for heartfelt goodbyes. We're on a tight schedule, so if you'd just step aside…"

"I'm not stepping aside. I don't know who you guys are, but taking someone by force who has don't nothing wrong—"

"You think that girl's innocent?" He scoffed as he continued to walk closer to us, "Apparently she hasn't told you anything about her past. Oh, come now subject 0002345, you shouldn't keep juicy secrets from your friends. Why don't you tell him about how cruel and vicious you really are? How you murdered those people in cold blood—"

"Shut up!" I shouted, not wanting him to tell Steve who I really was deep down, "Just shut up—"

"Her past means nothing to me. I know who she is today." Steve said firmly as he placed me gently down on the floor.

"Oh really? Well then….I guess if you feel that way about her then…you'll have to die right here and now!" Ludwig shouted as he sped across the water and headed straight for us. Gritting my teeth, I tried to stand up so I could fight him off, but Steve surprised me as he stepped in front of me.

"Steve what are you—"

"You're in no condition to fight Peggy. I'll take it from here." He said as he charged towards the smirking scientist, determined to face him head on.

"No Steve!" I shouted as I tried to follow him, but my legs could not yet support my body weight. "STEVE!" I cried as I saw the scientist lashed out both the whips at him, but to my amazement Steve expertly dodged both whips and punched Ludwig in the face. He cried out in pain as he flew into a nearby brick wall, creating a miniature crater.

_What the hell_ I thought as I saw the scientist fall from the crater with a groan. _He just dodged the whips…and he punched him into the wall…and crater came out of it! How does he—what the hell is he?_

"Peggy, come on. We have to get out of here." Steve said as he rushed back towards me not noticing Ludwig was slowing rising up and pulling out a gun. He growled at me and pulled the trigger,

"No one gets to do that to me. Especially not some nobody." Steve turned around in surprised as he heard the bullet and braced himself for the impact.

"NO!" I snarled as I slammed down the palm of my hand onto the floor, forcing a block of earth to appear right in front of Steve before the bullets could puncture his skin. Steve stumbled back as he gasped in sight of the wall. He turned around and looked at me straight in the eye.

"Um, I think you have some explaining to do…"

"I could say the same to you." I said as I slowly stood up raising an eyebrow at the manmade crater.

"I hope you didn't forget I'm still here." A sinister voice growled as more bullets punctured the wall.

"Later?" I asked Steve who rushed towards me and helped support me.

"Yeah, let's get out of here."

"Not so fast!" Ludwig growled out as he stepped out in front of us along with more men with more guns pointed at us. I raised my right hand causing the water below us to shoot out and hit the men dead on.

"Let's go!" I shouted as I began to run before I was knocked to the side. Before I could get up, a pair of arms held me down. I looked up and saw Ludwig holding me down smiling down on me.

"Well that was easier than I thought." I struggled even harder to get out of his grip.

"Peggy!" I heard Steve yell and from the corner of my eye I could see Steve fighting and barely holding off the other men.

"I don't think you should really be worrying about him dear," he chuckled as he took out a syringe filled with a clear liquid. "I never really got to test it out, but I guess now would be a good time. Good night subject 0002345."

"Ah!" I shouted as he pierced my neck with the needle. Immediately I began to feel drowsy and weak. "You won't get me!" I screamed as I set my body on fire as a last resort in order to get him off. He screamed in pain as he rolled out off me in order to put out the flames. Quickly as I could, I crawled towards Steve who was struggling with even more men; however, before I could even get within ten feet of Steve, the men surrounding Steve suddenly starting dropping like flies as mysterious gunshots entered the battle. I heard voices entering the deserted streets and surrounding us and to my surprise the men who were fighting us moments ago were shooting at targets that I could not see.

"Peggy!" Steve's voice sounded muffled as the poison started to take effect on my body. My vision began to blur as I tried to focus on Steve's oncoming form but it was too much.

"Steve," I muttered before darkness overwhelmed my vision and I lost conscious. However, before I lost my conscious I heard a voice shout,

"Captain America! Are you alright sir?"

_Captain America? But he's dead…right?_

* * *

**And Finite. So what did you guys think? Should I continue, delete this story or what? Your feedback would be very wonderful. And I'm sorry if I didn't catch all the grammar/spelling mistakes. I always miss something...Well anyways, thank you for reading and I shall be updating my other stories so this will be on hold for a while. :3**

**-Midnightmich**


	2. Enter SHIELD

The Unexpected

**Time for chapter two! OMG I never thought that this story would get so much reviews and favorites! I'll make sure to update as quickly as I can! This is amazing, I never thought any of my stories would this much attention! Thank you guys! **

**Thank you for reviewing:**

**Guest: Your words are flattering really. I'm glad you think my Avengers fanfic is good. And yes I got her powers from Avatar: The Last Airbender because I couldn't think of cools powers to give to her. xD And don't worry I will continue this fanfic so don't be sad. **

**Orderofphoniex,**

**CherryBlossomTrinity,**

**Stargazer1364,**

**and Autumn's Fire. **

**Thank you guys for your kind words, they really motivated me to continue this fanfic. :3 Now onward towards the story!**

**Set pre-Avengers, Avengers, and post-Avengers. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avengers, Captain America or the other superheroes in Avengers. Only my character that has yet to have a name.**

**Talking: **Well, that was a bit unexpected.

**Thoughts: **_This can't get any worse right?_

* * *

_Last Chapter_

"_You won't get me!" I screamed as I set my body on fire as a last resort in order to get him off. He screamed in pain as he rolled out off me in order to put out the flames. Quickly as I could, I crawled towards Steve who was struggling with even more men; however, before I could even get within ten feet of Steve, the men surrounding Steve suddenly starting dropping like flies as mysterious gunshots entered the battle. I heard voices entering the deserted streets and surrounding us and to my surprise the men who were fighting us moments ago were shooting at targets that I could not see. _

"_Peggy!" Steve's voice sounded muffled as the poison started to take effect on my body. My vision began to blur as I tried to focus on Steve's oncoming form but it was too much._

"_Steve," I muttered before darkness overwhelmed my vision and I lost conscious. However, before I lost my conscious I heard a voice shout,_

"_Captain America! Are you alright sir?"_

_Captain America? But he's dead…right?_

* * *

_**M's POV**_

**Beep…beep…beep…beep**

The constant sound of an annoying beeping noise woke me up from my deep slumber. Too tired to even move I laid in the bed trying to recall the memories from the day before. I remembered I moved into Nicole's house so most likely I was in one of her guest beds.

_Damn it, I probably overslept that's why I'm hearing her alarm. Ugh and it was my turn to cook breakfast. I hope Nicole didn't try to cook anything…wait…did Nicole ever have an alarm clock?_ I went to move my right hand to turn off this alarm clock but to my surprise I felt a strap on my arm. I tried to move the rest of my body and to my horror my body was fully strapped to a bed. Quickly I opened my eyes and once my eyes adjusted to the bright light I noticed I was in a white room with medical equipment surrounding my bed along with an IV attached to my arm. I began to panic as I struggled to get out of my restraints, causing my heartbeat to speed up and alerting the doctors. Seconds later, doctors came rushing in and tried to restrain me even more.

"Ma'am calm down! You're safe now. Please stop struggling against the straps you're hurt yourself even more—"

"Stop with the damn lies!" I shouted as I struggled even further knocking a doctor or two off me. "You're with HIM I know it! I won't let you capture me that easily again!"

"Calm down—"

"Fuck you!" I screamed as I let loose a large gust of wind that threw back the doctors a couple feet. Once they were off me, I quickly sliced the straps off with some sharp wind slices and jumped out of bed, ripping the IV out of my arm none to gently. The doors to my room suddenly opened and men in black suits and helmets rushed in, pointing rather large guns at me.

"Stand down—"

"Hell no!" I growled out as I took notice of a sink and quicker than any of the men could anticipate, I roughly kicked the pipe, opening it and pulled the water out of the pipe. In a blink of an eye I formed a whip out of the water and lashed it out at the uniformed men, knocking the guns out of their hands. Once the immediate weapons were out of the way, I ran towards them kicking any of the men who dared try to stop into an unforgiving wall and made my out of my room. As I finally made it outside of my room, I noticed that it was different from the last time I walked through the halls of the laboratory. There were no white walls, nor was there chemicals being transported around in carts, and most importantly, there were no screams of pain.

"All agents to floor 3B all agents to floor 3B. We have a code Blue, I repeat we have a code blue." A commanding voice echoed throughout the halls along with a loud siren. Wasting no time, I quickly chose a hallway and began running, hoping it would wither lead me to a window where I could jump through, a door that would lead me to a roof, or just an exit in general. As I ran down the halls I began to notice more differences this laboratory, for one most of the rooms you could see through and look what they were doing inside and two, there were only just a couple of rooms with chemicals while the others held mostly computers and weapons.

_What the hell? Did HE decide to have a makeover of HIS laboratory? But if so why so much weapons and computers? Wouldn't HE want more chemicals instead? What's going on? Stop it. You have to keep your focus; the main object is to get out of here alive. Who cares if HE changed some stuff around, just focus on getting out._ I thought as I sped up. As I ran through the hallway looking for any signs of an exit, I saw a familiar blob of blonde hair in one of the rooms. I halted to a stop, immediately remembering the events from….whenever they were and remembered Steve was with me.

_What if they captured Steve and they're doing experiments on him now? I have to save him, it's the least I can do after he helped me._ With that thought in mind, I raced back towards the room where I saw Steve with the intention of freeing him. However as I swung the door open, the sight I saw…I wasn't expecting to see it at all. Steve was unharmed; in fact he was wearing new clothing and looked rather calm as he was talking to the doctor.

_No, it can't be. Steve couldn't possibly be working for HIM. He can't be…he's too nice….but he's right there…talking to the doctors. I really thought….but why?_ I thought sadly as the both of them turned towards me as the sound of the slamming door caught their attention. Steve looked up at me surprised.

"Peggy? You're awake! How are you feeling—"

"How could you." I whispered softly as I took a step back, the feeling of betrayal growing inside my heart. Steve looked a bit confused.

"How could I what?" I snapped my head up and glared as hard as I could at him.

"How could you work for them Steve! How could you!" I shouted as I pointed to doctor and the building in general. Steve chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, about that….I've been meaning to tell you—"

"Bullshit!" I snarled as betrayal fueled my anger towards Steve. "You've been planning this all along haven't you? Lying to me to get me to trust you and this is what you do to me! Damn it Steve WHY!" I screamed as miniature fireballs appeared in my hands. Steve quickly placed himself in front of the doctor and raised his hands slowly.

"Peggy please calm down. You got the wrong idea—"

"Save it Rogers." I growled out as I prepared to throw the fireballs as Steve. "I'm going to get out of here even if it kills me."

"That won't be necessary." The voice over the income said clearly behind me. I quickly spun around and found myself surrounded by soldiers and standing in the middle of all them—calmly and without a gun in hand—was an African American man with a black eye patch over his left eye. He stared at me for a couple of seconds before speaking up. "That's an interesting trick you have there. How do you do it?" I lowered my hands and extinguished my fireballs, all the while watching him cautiously.

"Who are you?" I asked not answering his question, "Where am I? This sure as hell doesn't look like the laboratory I grew up in for fourteen years. Are you friends with Vash?" I spat out the name angrily.

"I'm Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D. You're at one of S.H.I.E.L.D's headquarters, well the medical part of the building anyways. And no I'm not friends with this person you call Vash although his name does sound familiar." This Nick person answered, surprising me.

"S.H.I.E.L.D? What the fuck is that?"

"Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate." A man with brown hair and blue eyes said as he stood next to Nick without any weapons. With his black business suit, he didn't seem to belong in this group of combat men, but I could be wrong.

"Well, that's a mouth full." I said with a deadpan voice. "But why am I here?"

"Mr. Rogers asked us to bring you here to heal up after that nasty fight you got the both of yourselves into a couple of days ago. Which reminds me, why would a group of highly skilled agents go after a girl like yourself? Would it because of your little tricks?" Nick asked as he took a step closer to me. I took a step back.

"Why don't you ask them? I'm sure you captured them and already gotten answers."

"They quickly killed themselves with Cyanide before we could interrogate them and a couple of them escaped. So we don't know who they are which we were hoping you could shed some light on Miss Smith."

"How do I know I can trust you? You strapped me down to a bed."

"A safety precaution. After Roger's evaluation of your fighting skills, we thought it be best to keep you still as you healed." I looked back behind me to glare at Steve who looked a bit hurt.

"If I'm going to be sharing my secrets then, I want to know his." I pointed back at Steve. The S.H.I.E.L.D director looked surprised at my request.

"Why him?"

"He's not normal. I saw him punch a man and made him create a crater. Now the only possible way he was able to do that was if he was experimented on. If so then that means you guys create guys like him and I can assure you if that is so, I won't be here for long." Nick looked behind me, probably at Steve and nodded.

"You're right Rogers isn't a normal human, but we didn't create him. We found him frozen in the Atlantic where he has been sleeping for around 70 years."

"70 years?" I asked as I looked back at Steve unable to believe that he was over 70. He looked around twenty years old! "That's not possible. Even if he wasn't a normal human, seventy years in ice is long time—"

"True, but like I said Rogers isn't normal even by abnormal standards. You're looking at the world's first super soldier created in the forties by S.S.R. Captain America." I snapped my head up in surprise, looking at Steve with bewilderment.

"You're…you're Captain America?" I whispered taking a step back. Steve nodded.

"Yes—"

"But you…its…how are you…it's not possible!" I shouted near the end. "You can't be Captain America you just can't be, he's dead!"

"I thought I was too until a couple of weeks ago. They thawed me out of the ice and…here I am." Steve shrugged sheepishly. I shook my head and began to laugh as I thought of the irony. I escaped that hell hole so I could escape being used as a super soldier and what do you know, I meet the original super soldier that made scientists from all around the world want to replicate the serum.

"Wow who would have thought that the person I would befriend on the outside world would be the very person that made my life a hellhole."

"And just what do you mean by that?" Nick asked as he crossed his arms.

"I was created to be just like him, another super solider but of course we can never get the same results. I still have inhuman strength, high metabolism and all the other shit that I'm sure Captain America has but a bit less. Because the serum to create me was different, I gained some powers in the process. I can control the four major elements; water, earth, fire, and air." To prove my point, I gave them a show of each of my element, I produced a fire ball in my right hand and with my left, I forced the water out of a nearby plant to extinguish the flame. Then I took the soil from the dead plant's pot and created a miniature gun out of it. And finally, I blew a gust of wind at the armed soldiers sending most of them flying. "I escaped three years ago and I've been living on the run. So you can see why I'm a bit paranoid of you guys."

"Another super-soldier, well I'll be damned." Nick muttered as he picked himself off the floor.

"Well now that you know about me, I'll be leaving—"

"Peggy wait—"

"My name's not Peggy Smith," I said as I looked at Steve who started back at me with shock. "It never was—"

"So what is your real name then Samantha?" A familiar British voice asked and I spun around surprised. Standing outside the door frame was my boss at the club, only he was wearing a similar suit to the man standing next to Fury.

"Arthur what the—you work here! I thought you were just a club manager! Is there anyone that I know who didn't lie to me?" I asked no one in particular.

"Agent Kirkland, I'm glad you could make—"

"I'm not Fury." Arthur sighed as he walked up to me. "I knew you had a dark past, but I didn't know how dark. And to answer your question, no I don't work here, not anymore at least. I retired five years ago and began working as a manger of the Emerald Club. I'm here to DECLINE," Arthur said with much emphasis as he looked back at the director, "S.H.I.E.L.D's request of coming back to active duty. Find some other agent to hack into computers and build weapons. I'm sure Stark can fit the bill quite nicely." He said before returning his gaze at me, "Goodness did they rough you up. Are you ok? Wait you didn't answer my question yet. What is your real name—"

"Agent Kirkland it wasn't a request, it was an order. The council want you back on active duty—" Arthur quickly spun around and marched towards the one eyed man glaring angrily at him.

"I thought I made it very clear five years ago why I retired from active duty Director. I'm not coming back, not when my brother can be in harm's way again."

"You're brother doesn't need to be babied anymore Agent Kirkland, he's twenty years old and capable of taking care of himself." Nick said glaring right back at the British man. "We need you back Agent Kirkland—"

"No—"

"I wasn't asking. You are ordered by the council to be back on active duty Kirkland. Otherwise I might have to send Black Widow to persuade you."

"You wouldn't! That woman's mad!" Arthur shouted, "She tried to kill me the last time we saw each other—"

"Then report to headquarters on Monday at Seven O'clock sharp Agent Kirkland." Fury said leaving no room for any argument before turning towards me. "Now what to do with you...do you even have a name?" he asked and I shook my head.

"I don't remember what I was called, only my number 0002345." I said as I rubbed my neck where I noticed that my neck was bare and everyone could see my tattoo. "And you don't have to worry about me. I'll be out of your guy's way. I'll move to another city and basically move on. It's nothing new." I sighed.

"But Peggy, if those people found you, it'll be only a matter of time before they find you again and we might not be able to help you." Steve argued as he stepped forward. "You can't leave—"

"I told you my name is not Peggy—"

"That doesn't matter Peggy, you told me that's what I should call you by and I'll always will." Steve said as he took several strides towards me before he was standing right in front of me. "You can't leave Peggy, it's dangerous for you." I scoffed.

"I managed to live on my own for three years so I think I can manage just fine. I'll throw them off and live peacefully somewhere before I move to another State. I don't need protection—"

"Actually, Samantha—err Peggy...which do you prefer?" Arthur asked.

"Don't care. Out with it Arthur." I sighed as I turned to face him, feeling Steve's breath on my neck.

"Fine, Samantha. I believe Mr. Rogers is right. It's not safe for you to go back out. They know you're in New York and I'll bet you that they'll do whatever it takes to get you back. I'm positive that they were the ones trying to hack into your file and I'm sure they won't stop. At least here in S.H.I.E.L.D they can provide you with better protection."

"What did I tell you guys?" I shouted angrily, "I don't need protection! I never had it before and I sure as hell don't need it now!"

"Doesn't look like that to me Miss No Name." Nick said entering in the conversation, "Whatever they injected you with made you pass out for three days. And if the Captain's report is anything to go by, if he didn't show up when he did, you'd be back in that laboratory you call a hellhole." I quickly adverted my eyes away from Nick's knowing he was right.

"Fine, maybe I do need protection but what's in it for you guys? I know for a fact that people with secret facilities want something in return for providing such a "generous" offer." I said emphasizing sarcastically on 'generous' . "So what's the catch?"

"The "catch," or so you put it, is you must allow us to run some tests on you." Fury said putting his hands in his coat pocket. "For... let's say a few days. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it? We're curious about your powers, and how they differ from Rogers'. Even though you were injected with similar serums, you acquired entirely different powers. Our researchers are interested with how that came to be. You'll do it, won't you?" I blinked several times wondering what the hell was going on his head when suddenly Steve spoke up.

"Whoa, I'm not so sure about that—"

"Don't worry, we won't hurt your "friend." The tests will be... almost completely harmless."

" "Almost?" Fuck no. I heard that word more than one once and I know that it means it is painful!" I growled out stepping away from the S.H.I.E.L.D director.

"I thought I was being generous. I'm holding our researchers back from strapping you down again and performing the more... invasive tests."

"No, I rather go back out there and run for my life than be forced to take tests again! I'm done being a human guinea pig!" I screamed as I produced fireballs in my hands ready to throw them. The men behind Fury quickly raised their guns at me, prepared to shoot at a moment's notice.

"Peggy calm down, no one's going to do tests on you!" Steve shouted as he stepped in front of the men with guns preventing them from firing at me.

"How can I trust you?" I growled at Steve, "How do I know that you really mean it?"

"Not once did I lie to you Peggy. Everything I've told you was the truth, yes I did keep some stuff away from you but you did the exact same thing."

_True, you also kept stuff away from him and if anything, you're the only one lying here. You lied to him about everything and—_ Stupid conscious was right, if anything I was the only one lying and I had all reasons to believe in Steve's words but… Nick's words from earlier flashed back into my head

"_True, but like I said Rogers isn't normal even by abnormal standards. You're looking at the world's first super soldier created in the forties by S.S.R., Captain America."_

Steve was the reason why my life was messed up. If he—if the serum didn't work on him—if he never became Captain America, all I would have to be worrying about would be rent, college, and other shit normal people face! Not running away from HIM, not worrying whether nor not people want to experiment on me, or other stuff!

_But it's not like he wanted to do this to you. Steve didn't know the consequences that came with the serum so it couldn't have been his fault that your life was messed up. _ My conscious argued back. True as it was, I couldn't help but blame him even though he was innocent in all this. I just…I just had to blame someone for my misfortune and as much as I hated it to blame things on my….friends…I just couldn't help myself.

"I just—I just, how can I trust you when you're the reason why I'm like this?" I whispered to myself as I extinguished the flames.

"What about me then?" Arthur spoke up clearing his throat. "Would you trust me to make sure no tests are run on you?"

"Agent Kirkland—" Nick began before Arthur raised his hand to stop him.

"Look Fury, you're forcing me to go back into S.H.I.E.L.D and if you want me back, let me work with Samantha so she can adjust slowly here. I understand Samantha a bit more than the lot of you and will be more patient with her. So I'll show her the guest rooms you have here until you have a permanent room for her." Arthur said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room despite several protests coming from Nick and surprisingly Steve. Arthur didn't stop holding my hand until we had climbed into an elevator and waited as it took us to the seventh floor.

"So," I began as I leaned against the elevator wall, crossing my arms as I stared at Arthur "An ex-government agent? I should have seen that coming when you told me of your hacking skills." Arthur rubbed his neck.

"Yes, that was the main reason I joined them. I was a good hacker and they paid well which at the time we needed the money." The elevators doors opened and Arthur coughed lightly "After you."

"Fury said something about your brother, did he mean Alfred?" I asked him as we walked down the empty hallways where on each side was a door with numbers on it. If I didn't know this was a secret facility, I would have thought this would have been a fancy hotel. The dark red color of the carpet went well with the golden colored walls but before I could even look further down the hallway, Arthur stopped at a door with the numbers 123 and took out a card from his breast pocket and swiped it down the card holder which turned green.

"Yes, he meant Alfred. I'm surprised you even remember him." Arthur smiled softly as he opened the door for me and motioned me to enter. Inside the room was a small bed, a night stand next to the bed, a closet right across the bed and another door which I believed led to a bathroom.

"How couldn't I? He made quite an impression." I laughed lightly as I remembered meeting Alfred at Arthur's club. It was hard not to miss him, with his blue eyes and his blond hair especially with that small strand of hair sticking out from his head. He was sitting at the bar drinking a couple of drinks and was actually talking to Arthur and Arthur was smiling back. Back then, I had no idea Arthur could smile and I later went up to Alfred and asked who he was. He told me he was Alfred Kirkland, the younger brother of Arthur and I surprisingly found myself talking to Alfred the rest of the night learning many things about him and Arthur.

"That boy, he could never stand still." Arthur sighed as he opened the closet and took out a chair. "So ask the question, I know you're dying to ask it." I bit my lip as I took a seat on the bed and nearly fell back as I miscalculated the firmness of the bed. Once I regained my balance I cleared my thought and looked Arthur directly in the eye.

"You said you were in S.H.I.E.L.D until five years ago. Something about Alfred getting hurt right? What happened?" I asked. Arthur sighed as he ran his hand through his hair.

"When you're great at something…people will tend to remember you or at least know you. Even in the secret world. It wasn't a secret that I was one of S.H.I.E.L.D's top agents and I was, and still am, the best computer hacker out in the world. I was twenty years old and Alfred was only fifteen. Our parents had died when we were younger so I took the role of a parent. He didn't know about my secret job, he thought I was a secretary of a government building and…that day…it still haunts me."

"Alfred got hurt didn't he?" Arthur nodded.

"It was a terrorist group we were bringing down. They somehow got information that I was one of the agents coming to destroy the camp where they were meeting at and decided to gain some leverage. Alfred was coming out of high school when they captured him; I didn't know until that night when he didn't come home and none of his friends knew where he was at. They sent a video to me…a video with Alfred tied to a chair…all bloody…his hair….it wasn't even the same color…and…and bandages…they were around his eyes…and….it was just horrible." Arthur stuttered as he recalled the painful memories. I looked at him sadly as his eyes began to water.

"You know you don't have to—"

"No it's alright. I knew this would come up eventually and to save myself the trouble I'll just tell you now." Arthur chuckled humorlessly. I stayed silent and let him continue.

"Alfred…he had no idea what was going on…and it got worse then they began stabbing him. It took two days to retrieve him, if it wasn't for the help of Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton…I don't know if Alfred would be with us today. Anyways…while Alfred was rescued…the damage was worse than I had thought. They poured some sort of chemical into his eyes that nearly made him blind and he was traumatized by the torture he had gone through. It was so bad that we had to hypnotize him to forget the events. Luckily it did work and Alfred went back to his normal self except he has to wear a really strong pair of glasses. And because of that incident…I retired as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. I couldn't put Alfred in more danger and I found work as a Club manager and that's where I've been for the last five years." Arthur sighed as he rubbed his temples.

"Who would have thought Alfred went through that." I muttered. "He looked so cheerful…"

"I know. That's why I don't want to come back again. Even though Alfred is older now…I still worry that…I just worry for him. God, I'm a horrible brother for putting him in danger." Arthur sighed heavily as he placed his hands on his face.

"Hey, you're not a horrible brother." I said awkwardly patting his soldier. "You did everything you could to protect him. How were you supposed to know they were going after your brother? The bottom line is that you're not bad. Sure you have your quirks that could use some work on," I continued on even though he gave me a slight glare, "but you're a good person. So stop blaming yourself, otherwise I'll jump through the window and leave."

"The windows are bullet proof." Arthur said looking up, smiling a bit. I shrugged.

"I'm sure I'm stronger than bullets, and if that fails…well there's always fire." Arthur first began chuckling and then it escalated into full blown out laughter that I could not help but join in. Who knows, maybe with Arthur here, it might not be so bad after all.

* * *

_Jump, flip, land, drop, dodge. Now use the water whip. _I thought as I lightly panted, whipping away sweat from my forehead and using it to create a water whip. As I flicked my wrist, my water whip sliced through the metal claw that tried to grab me. In the dark, I tried to locate any other enemy that might try to sneak up on me and I saw nothing.

"Come on! Is that all you got?" I shouted before a thumping noise erupted behind me. I turned around and barely dodged a mechanical arm swinging down on me. I rolled away from the crater the arm created and quickly ran up a wall, running a nearly horizontal path. Looking behind me, the mechanical arm still followed me and I frowned. I stopped running and before gravity could take a hold of me and bring me down, I flipped backwards, barely missing the arm. Once I landed onto the floor, I punched the air, sending a large blast of fire towards the mechanical arm. However, before the flames could engulf the arm, it moved out of the way and surged towards me once my flames died down. I fell to the floor and once the arm past me, I jumped up and chased after the arm. Before it could turn around, I jumped onto the hinge of the arm and blasted fire straight at it. In a matter of seconds, the hinge dissolved into nothing and the arm fell off. Not taking any chances of having it come back, I raised my hands and sliced them downwards, sending sharp wind slices at the machine, slicing it even more.

"You know Fury doesn't like it when you destroy his toys beyond repair." Arthur's voice over the intercom sighed as the light suddenly came on. Once the light came on, the room was finally lit and I could see all the damage I've done. Littered across the floor were broken, melted, and destroyed, pieces of metal arms and other stuff that I had no idea what it was. I shrugged at the small security camera in the corner of the metallic room.

"Hey that's the price for sticking needles in my arm when I told him no. Besides, it's an old habit; old habits are hard to break." Kicking a motor away from me, I walked towards a bolted door and waited for it to open. With a hissing sound, the door open and Arthur stood there giving me a smirk.

"Old habit huh? You sound old when you say that." He threw me a water bottle which I caught one handily.

"Old? Says the person whose almost thi—"

"I'M NOT THAT OLD!" Arthur yelled and poked me in the forehead. I chuckled as I uncapped the bottle and swatted his hand away.

"Alfred says you are, so I do to. How's he doing in college anyways?" I asked as we walked through the halls of S.H.I.E.L.D's headquarters ignoring the gazes of the other agents and doctors.

"He's doing well, he's getting beyond average grades in math and science. And he's planning to come home for Christmas this year. He even asked if you're going to join us." I smiled softly.

"I might…depending on what Fury has me doing that day." I grumbled.

It had been a while since I've grudgingly accepted Fury's offer to stay at S.H.I.E.L.D's headquarters for safety. However, I had to "donate" at least three blood bags worth of blood to the doctors/scientists here in order to stay. At least it was better that being strapped to a lab bench and injected with chemicals that could kill a normal person. However, even though I was free from chemical and science testing, Fury decided to have me undergo…different tests. Most of them revolved around me using my powers or testing out my strength, agility, stamina, mental capacity, and my intelligence. Luckily, ever since Arthur rejoined S.H.I.E.L.D Arthur made sure none of these test go out of hand and he's been helping me cope with all the stuff that goes on here. You could say Arthur became my newest closest friend here, almost replacing Steve. Steve…I haven't talk to him as much as we did before the incident. Even though we now lived in the same building and literally a hallway away from each other, we hardly saw each other or even talked. The only time we did chat was when Fury wanted me to spar against Steve and the first time…well it didn't end well for Steve.

Steve didn't believe in fighting girls at least in hand to hand combat so while he tried to reason with Fury about this arrangement, I took the moment to grab Steve's hand, pull it over my shoulder and threw him at least ten feet. After that Steve was always cautious to fight me and Fury seemed a bit pleased at the outcome.

"Come, it will be fun." Arthur said as we made our way towards the elevator, "I'll even invite Steve."

"That won't be necessary." I grumbled once again as we entered the elevator. Even though I didn't outright hate Steve, I hated the Captain America part of him. The part of him that made my life into a hellhole and also the reason why I was being constantly watched by S.H.I.E.L.D agents. I couldn't talk to him as I did before and I hated that, but I couldn't forget the fact the fact that because he was a super soldier, I was now a super soldier but not by choice.

"Still upset about Captain America?" Arthur sighed as he pushed the button to go to the basement.

"A bit. It's kind of hard to forget about your past when the whole reason for it is living right next to you."

"Point taken. Are you sure you still want to spar against Steve then?" Arthur asked as the elevator dinged and the door opened, revealing a boxing arena, punching bags, and huge weights on the floor.

"There's not many people that I can use my full strength on and I like to fight hand to hand combat more than using my powers." I said as I finished drinking the water and threw it away in a nearby trashcan.

"Suit yourself Samantha." Arthur sighed as he pushed a button and the elevator doors began closing on him. "Remember, Fury has another test for your fire power. After your spar, come to the testing room on the fourth floor." I gave him a nod as the door closed.

"Peggy, you came." I heard Steve pant. Turning around, I saw Steve walking towards me with his skin tight white shirt and sweat pants. His fists were wrapped with white bandages and white powder, most likely to protect his skin against the friction of punching the punching bag constantly.

"Of course, I need someone to test my full strength on, and what better person to test it on than you?" I smirked as I rubbed my hands together preparing myself for a fight.

"It's a bit strange to be fighting a person who's almost as strong as me. I never thought I would find a fighting partner who can fight me head on." Steve laughed as he led us to the boxing arena.

"Yeah, chemically altering a body could do that to you." I grumbled as we hit a sore spot.

"Ah, yes that's…true," Steve finished lamely and we stayed silent for a while.

"Let's just begin fighting." I said as I aimed a well aimed punch to his head and thus our spar for the day began.

* * *

"Fourth floor, stupid fourth floor. To many damn doors." I muttered as I took a towel and wiped away the sweat on my neck. "You know a sign with a 'Fire testing' would be nice."

"We recently changed the room to accommodate fire testing so we have yet to put a sign up that says 'Fire Testing.' " Fury's voice echoed behind me. Quickly I turned around and saw Fury standing behind an open door—a door that I passed by not thinking much about it—raising an eyebrow at me.

"Well you could have had a person come an escort me here. I don't know exactly all the rooms here." I grumbled as I walked towards Fury with my hands behind my head. Once inside the room, Fury led me into a deeper part of the room where a sole metal box stood in the middle of the room. Around the box were several doctors, computers wired into the wall, some agents, and…fire extinguishers? "So how is testing my powers exactly helping you again? I fail to see the purpose; Captain America doesn't even have my powers."

"Two reasons," Fury began as he walked towards the metal box that I know saw was connected to pipes, "One. To help you gain more control over your powers, I've seen what you can do and I know you can do better." I rolled my eyes. I heard that line many times already. "And two, comparing your powers and studying your blood helps us to understand how the serum worked and if possible, to replicate it."

"And ruin more people's lives like that I suppose." I grumbled as followed Fury to the metal box. Fury ignored me as he stopped in front of the metal box and faced me.

"So Miss No Name, tell me how much control do you have over your fire power?" Fury asked. I merely raised my eyebrow.

"I won't burn anyone on purpose if that's what you're asking." Fury sighed.

"I don't mean it like that. I meant if you could control how hot your fire can get and how much comes out." Well that was new. The bastards back at the lab never really cared about my control over the temperature and as long as I hit my target with a lot of force they really didn't emphasis control really.

"Um no not really. I just concentrate on hitting my target and burning them to a crisp. I never really had a reason to control my fire." Fury smirked.

"Well, we're about to change that today. Your goal today is to heat up this metal box to a certain temperature without melting it and it must be at a certain spot. If you fail to do so, you will be covered in CO2 to put out the flames and you'll continue the process again." he opened the door to metal box and motioned me to enter. Slowly I entered the small but spacious box. Inside were small targets with a certain temperature written above them.

"Alright, let's starts off a little bit easy. Aim for the target above you and make sure the flames do not pass 150 degrees Celsius." Fury's voice echoed in the box. I looked above me and indeed saw the target that Fury specified. Without taking much consideration, I punched the air and released a stream of flames straight to the target. It hit it dead on but seconds later the box was filled with CO2 causing my flames to go out.

"What the fuck was that for?" I screamed as I tried my best to get the CO2 off my clothes.

"You passed the temperature. Try again." glaring at the target, I tried again once more but I got the same results. "We got all day with you & we are not leaving until we get this done." mentally I cursed myself for taking up Steve's and Arthurs offer to stay here. It was going to be a very very long afternoon.

"So how was your training yesterday?" Arthur asked me as we went to grab a small breakfast at S.H.I.E.L.D's cafeteria. I glared angrily at him as I took a bite of my apple.

"Peachy, just peachy."

"I take it you have another session today?" Arthur asked and I nodded.

"Stupid lessons. I mean why are they bothering to train me? It's not like I'm going to become an agent for them. I'm just staying here until I can go out again without you or Steve worrying for my life." I grumbled as I quickly finished my apple.

"That reminds me, if you don't mind me asking but…" I raised an eyebrow at him as I put my glass of apple juice to my lips.

"But what?"

"What's your relationship with Steve? I know you and Steve are close, but how close?" I placed my cup down and started dully at the polished metallic table.

"What does it matter. Things have…changed. I don't think I can see him the same way again."

"And by that you mean—" I sighed angrily at Arthur.

"I mean, I can't…go back to the way things were. I grew up in a lab Arthur and it was because someone wanted to create the same fucking serum that created Captain America. Eventually I grew to hate Captain America. I thought, 'why did he have to exist? Why am I paying the price? Why am I suffering. It's because of him. If he didn't exist then none of this would be happening.' And my hatred for a dead man was born. I had to blame someone and that someone was Captain America."

"Why not hate the scientist that tried to duplicate the serum in the first place?" Arthur asked stopping me dead in my tracks. "I mean he created the alternate serum in the first place."

_Why didn't I blame him? Why couldn't I blame Vash? I mean he was the reason that I was captured and tortured but—_

"Samantha? Are you alright?" Arthur asked as I didn't respond to him.

"I don't know…why can't I blame him?" I muttered softly to myself.

_Probably because even if the serum wasn't created then, a scientist would still have tried to create something like it…or is my hatred for Captain America that deep?_

"Samantha?" I shook my head and quickly stood up.

"I blame Captain America because of his existence Arthur. The success of the serum caused scientists to create another super soldier. Which in turn caused my life to be ruined. That reason alone is enough to hate him." Taking my tray, I began to walk way.

"But you don't hate Steve." His words stopping me dead in my tracks once again and Arthur continued to speak, "I know you don't hate Steve's personality. That's why you still talk to him although not as much as you did before but you still talk to him—."

"I'm going to practice my fire powers more." I said as I went towards a trashcan and threw away the remaining uneaten food and placed the tray away. "Bye Arthur, see you later."

_Why is everything so confusing?_ I thought as I pushed through the cafeteria doors and made my ways towards the elevators, _My feelings towards Steve are…I can't get them to be uniform. At times I hate him, hate his Captain America counterpart, but other times…I see him as the Steve I met weeks ago. And Arthur had a point. Why am I blaming Steve for my misfortune…why can't I blame the scientist? Why?_

* * *

The rest of the month passed with no significant incident…well there was a break through with my fire control now that I remember. After weeks of hardly any progress, I managed to finally control the temperature of my flames to a certain extent. What was even more surprising was the color my fire turned into. As I was practicing how to control the temperature of a small fireball in the palm of my hand, the fireball turned blue. It surprised me so much that I lost control and nearly set fire to some of the scientists nearby. After that incident, Fury's been pushing me harder to get similar results. So far I can get my flames to go blue for at least a minute and during that time, I can set it to any temperature that I want it to. It's neat in a way, but exhausting.

It also doesn't help that I've been having weird dreams lately. Ever since my conversation with Arthur about who to blame for my misfortune, I've been having dreams none stop and before I can see who I'm dreaming about, I wake up. However, I always have the same feeling in each dream—

"Rise and shine Samantha." Arthur's voice echoed behind the door of my room. I groaned in my bed and threw the covers over my head hoping to go back to my slumber.

"Go away Arthur. Fury's not in today so I want to make the best of my sleep in day." I mumbled under the covers. I didn't even hear the door opening until I felt someone grab my covers and pull them right off me. I rolled around and glared sleepily at Arthur. "What?"

"It's almost 10 in the morning. I believe you slept in long enough Samantha. Get up; I have a surprise for you in my lab." With a groan, I slowly sat up on my bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"Where is Fury by the way? He seemed to be in a hurry wherever he was going yesterday." Arthur said nothing as he placed a clean set of clothes for me on the edge of my bed. "Arthur? What's going on? Is something serious going to happen? Should I worry?"

"No dear, nothing you should worry about just yet."

"Just yet? What does that mean?" I asked as I grabbed Arthur's hand before he could leave my room. "Arthur…did they find me?"

"No, not them. It's something…else. While I don't know exactly what it is, I have a feeling I know what Fury is checking on." I raised an eyebrow.

"Checking on?" Arthur nodded.

"It's an object that supposedly helped us leap forward in technology. S.H.I.E.L.D has had it for quite some time, apparently I heard it was founded in the midst of WWII but those are just rumors."

"You hacked into the files and found out about it huh." I said in a deadpan voice.

"I was a bit curious I'll admit." Arthur coughed trying to hide his blush. "I'll tell you about it later. Just get ready. Or I won't give you your present." I rolled my eyes as I grabbed my clothes and headed towards the bathroom.

"Yes mother."

After I finished changing, I followed Arthur down the halls of S.H.I.E.L.D's base and to a floor that I haven't visited before. Well there were many floors that I haven't visited yet, so I guess it wasn't that special…

"Hey Arthur, you said you have a lab. Are you a scientist too?" Arthur chuckled as he took out a card and swiped it into a cardholder.

"No, I don't consider myself a scientist. I could never understand the chemical compounds and all that. I'm more of a physicist and I'm a person who creates weapons and other stuff. In fact before I left, I was the leader in creating S.H.I.E.L.D's weapons, armor, and inventions. And since I'm back, I've been creating several items. I even made one especially designed for you." Arthur smiled as he places his hand on a hand scanner. Seconds later the light above the metallic door we were standing in front of us turned green and it opened. "Ladies first."

"Charming." I chuckled as I entered Arthur's Lab. As soon as I stepped into the laboratory, I couldn't help but let out a small gasp. If I had thought the building of S.H.I.E.L.D was high tech, this place was even more high tech. There were no computers in sight, only projector touch screens that many scientists were working on. On nearby tables, pieces of metal motors or parts of robots were under the scrutinizing eyes of scientists and robotic arms. Most of the carts were hover carts and on the walls were blue prints of various weapons, tanks, airplanes, and strangely a skateboard.

"I see you saw your present." Arthur smiled as he came up behind me. "I haven't given it a name yet but I think you'll come up with one anyways."

"A skateboard. What use do I have for a skateboard?" I asked Arthur in a deadpan voice. Arthur smirked at me.

"It's not just any skateboard, it's been personalized for your own powers. Gilbert, get Samantha her present." Arthur yelled out to an Albino who surprisingly had red eyes and almost snow white hair.

"Yeah yeah, just hold on your horses. Kesesese." Gilbert laughed as we walked towards a metal box and swiped a card in the card holder on the box to open it. With a hissing sound, the box opened and Gilbert reached into it. Gilbert slowly pulled out a sleek black lightweight skate board only it was missing wheels. "Catch!" He threw it towards Arthur who caught it with one hand and he wasn't even looking at him.

"Gilbert how many times have I told you, never—"

"To throw to anything. Yeah, yeah, I know. Sheesh lighten up buddy. That thing is nearly indestructible. I highly doubt a fall is going to break it." Arthur sighed and turned towards me and gave me the board.

"Well are you going to try it out?"

"Not when I have no clue what it does or what's it made of. You know I watched a couple films to know that whenever a scientist gives an agent an invention he usually tells him or her what it does first."

"Don't get smart with me Samantha, I was getting to that part." Arthur huffed as he took back the board. "Now this board here is made with Vibranium fussed with Steel. It's a metal alloy that is more indestructible than Vibranium. It can absorb a lot of kinetic energy and it's impossible to reform its shape afterwards."

"How did you get it to be in this shape then? Why not settle for Vi—whatever it was called." I asked.

"That my dear, is something that I cannot tell." Arthur smiled as he gave me back my board. "And besides Vibranium alone is great but with steel, it's better. Anyways, besides absorbing kinetic energy, I have placed some gadgets into this board."

"Like?" Arthur gave me a little glare. "Sorry continue."

"As I was saying, I placed some gadgets into the board. A couple of missiles are hidden inside the board, but it's most unique feature will probably be its flight system. If you don't mind Samantha, please get onto the board." Slowly, I put the board down but before I could get on it, Arthur snatched the board away from me.

"Wait not here! Otherwise you won't get flight." I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"Flight? This thing can fly!"

"Of course it can fly! By using your wind abilities, you can make this board fly wherever you want. With these specially made Turbofans inside the board, you can soar the skies as fast as a jet. You could even go supersonic speeds with the added afterburners on the bottom of the board. However, seeing that the afterburners are highly inefficient, it's only a one time use. Other than that, the amount of wind you pour into the turbofans determines the speed—"

"What are we waiting for? Let's try this out already!" I laughed as I grabbed the board and placed it on two nearby desk so only the edges of the board were touching the tables leaving a gap for air to travel through. I jumped onto the board and ignoring Arthur's protest, I began to manipulate the air around me to go through the small turbofans on my board. Slowly the turbofans began to spin and as I poured more wind into the airbreathing jet engine, it gained more speed and I felt the board rising.

"Bloody hell, she's doing it on her first try." Arthur gasped as I gained more air by the second. I pushed more wind into the engine and I was steadying floating at least fifteen feet above Arthur and the rest of his assistances.

"Holy Shit! This is amazing!" I laughed as I still poured wind into the turbofans to keep me afloat. "I always wanted to fly!"

"Alright Samantha, now that you got the basics down, why don't you try moving around—" Before Arthur could finish his sentence, I placed all my weight on the front of the board and nosedived down towards him. "SAMANTHA!" Arthur shouted as he jumped out of the way in order to avoid getting hurt. I laughed childishly as I shifted my weight back and flew up before I could hit the floor. I continued to fly around the room, sending papers flying, making sharp turns and sudden stops before I finally came down.

"Damn Arthur this the best present ever!" I smiled happily at him. Arthur huffed in annoyance.

"Well, if you continue to ride your board in such manner I might take it back." I laughed at him and before he could argue, I gave him a hug.

"But in all seriousness, thanks. It means a lot to me." Arthur blushed bright red before he covered his cheeks with his hands to hide the blush.

"Well, it's nothing really. I just want you to be safe that's all." I smirked at him.

"Sure. Well, last one to the cafeteria is a rotten egg!" I laughed as I threw the board in the air and jumped onto it, pouring wind into the fans to keep it afloat before I sped off.

"HEY COME BACK WITH THE BOARD! WE'RE NOT DONE WITH IT JUST YET!"

* * *

For the rest of the day, I continued to practice flying on my board. What can I say; it was like I was a kid on Christmas Day trying out their new toy…that's what Arthur said at least. I couldn't help myself though. It was technically my first present that I actually enjoyed and didn't bring me any pain…well besides falling off it.

"Again Samantha, you need to control your speed, and how to attack while you're on your board." Arthur sighed as I rubbed my butt after falling from the board unexpectedly. I was trying to hit a target with my fire power but doing so made me lose my concentration on my wind powers and yeah I ended on the floor.

"Easy for you to say, it's hard to multitask especially with my powers. I can so far only use one at a time, I haven't been able to do both." I grumbled as I picked up the board and jumped back onto it in the air. "It's not like I can use one hand to manipulate air and the other to control fire. I've tried that. The closest thing I've come to using both is probably using each power after each other in quick sessions." I sighed as I steadied myself at twenty feet above the ground and facing the target again.

"Well, you have to try something." Arthur said as he observed me at the bottom. "It won't be much use to you if you're falling during a fight." I gritted my teeth as I stared at the target in front of me.

"I know you, don't have to remind me." I took a deep breath and charged forward towards the target. Once I was at least ten feet away from the target, I stopped manipulating the air and punched the air to send a blast to the target. It worked for second before I began plummeting down to the floor. "Fuck!" I shouted as I cut off my fire and quickly regained control over the air and managed to catch myself five feet from the floor.

"Perhaps we should try again early in the morning." Arthur suggested as he walked towards me. "It's already midnight and you need your rest."

"Fine." I muttered as I slowly brought myself down and jumped off the board, catching it as it no longer had air to propel it up. "Tomorrow then. I just hope Fury will at least let me practice." Arthur chuckled as he patted me on the shoulder.

"I'll talk to him and see if we can arrange that. But for now, get a good night's rest." I smiled weakly at him. Only if he knew how "good" my nights were.

* * *

_Dream_

_A girl skipped down a hallway passing many doors and picture frames, humming a song as she did so. She only paused to look out the sole window in the hallway, admiring the sunset before she continued on her way to the last door in the hallway. The one she wasn't allowed to go in on her own._

"_Daddy, what are you doing?" A small girl asked as she peered inside the room and saw a tall male figure looking though a microscope before he looked at a light brown file with bright red words saying Top Secret. The said man looked up after hearing his daughter's voice, but his face was obscured due to the shadows. As usual the man would speak but nothing came out from his mouth. However, the girl in the dream would seem to understand what he was saying. She smiled at his answer._

"_Mommy said it was time for dinner. We're having spaghetti!" The girl smiled as she opened the door wider for her father. A ghost of a smile could be seen on the man's face as he walked towards the girl, but before she could see his face, the scene changed and now the girl was in a hospital bed with several needles stuck in her arm. A cast was wrapped around her left hand and the same man from the scene before was crying at her bedside._

"_Daddy, Daddy…where's Mommy." The girl croaked as she looked towards her father for answer. No sound came from the man whose face was buried in the bed sheets of the girl's bed, but the girl knew what he said once again._

"_What do you mean, Mommy's not coming back? Why? Did she leave? Where did she go? I want Mommy Daddy." The girl cried as her father grabbed her and held her close to his chest. Both continued to cry until the scene changed. The girl was back at the house, no cast on her arm and this time she was walking cautiously towards the room in the first scene. She knocked shakily at the door before she opened it. As she looked inside the room, she saw many of her father's possessions on the floor broken._

"_Daddy…Daddy are you alright?" The girl asked as she walked into the room slowly. On the floor she saw the same file that said Top Secret only she saw the words Super next to it before she heard a glass beaker fall behind her. Quickly she spun around and saw her farther walking towards her. Even though his face remained unidentifiable, the girl knew something was wrong with her father._

"_Daddy, what's wrong? Why are you like that?" The girl whimpered as she stepped away from her father. "You're scaring me Daddy." The male figure chuckled and the small girl cringed as he hugged her._

"_It will be alright." A voice said, most likely her father before the scene changed again. This time men with black suits were in their house and pulling the girl away from her father._

"_NO I WANNA BE WITH DADDY! DADDY, HELP ME!" The girl shouted as she struggled to get out of the man's grip. Her father was struggling with other men shouting colorful words at them as he tried to get to his daughter but to no avail. Still the girl continued to struggle even though she was already halfway to a car outside the one story house._

"_I'm sorry_, but you can't be with him anymore." A woman said as she opened the car door and the men shoved her in. "He's unstable—"_

"_DADDY! DADDY!" The girl continued to cry as the car started up and began driving away from her house. As she looked from the back window of the car, she saw that her father managed to run outside the house and began chasing the car but the car was too fast and drove off before he could even catch up. "DADDY!" the girl shouted as tears streamed down her face before the scene changed again. This time she was in a white room with children from the orphanage she was in not too long ago. Men had come in the middle of the night and killed the caretaker and took several children including her. As she and the other children waited, the door to the white room and out came several men but one stood out to the girl the most. The one with the black lab coat._

"_Daddy," the girl whimpered as she grew more scared of the man. "Daddy, help please—"_

"_Daddy won't be helping you. He's gone forever." The man in the black lab coat smiled wickedly as his face became visible to the girl. He had black messy hair and piercing emerald eyes. His eyes scanned all the children in the room and chuckled, "I'm going to enjoy working with the ones that survive this test. Let the testing for the super soldier serum begin. Take them to the rooms." The man said as he turned around and left the room._

"_NO get away from me!" The girl shouted as she struggled against the scientists. "No! Daddy! Daddy help me! Help me Daddy! I want my Daddy!"_

_End Dream_

"NO!" I screamed as I sat up in bed, panting and sweating like crazy. I looked at the clock on the nightstand beside my bed and I groaned as I saw the time; 2:30 in the morning.

_It was the same dream again. _I wearily thought as I ran a hand through my damp hair. _But at least I remembered more of it….but are those memories? I can't tell…although I know the last part of the dream was real. I remember that much of my early childhood._

"Why can't I just have normal dreams?" I muttered as I threw my legs over the side of the bed and sat there for a while. "That would be nice at least." I sighed heavily as I realized that I wouldn't be going to sleep soon. "Might as well practice my flying/attacking techniques." I yawned as I got out of bed and went to the bathroom to change into more appropriate clothing. Five minutes later, I was on my way to the elevator when it opened and out came Steve holding a light tan folder.

"Peggy, I was hoping to run into you. I mean I wasn't sure if you were awake or not and um…" I smiled as Steve tried to sound polite.

"It's fine Steve. I'm a bit surprised you're awake now. Rough night?" I asked as I leaned on the wall next to the elevator doors.

"Kind of, I've been asleep for seventy years and I feel kind of restless. What about you? Bad night?" He asked and I internally winced as I remembered my dream.

"Something like that. Well why did you want to run into me? Does it have to do with that folder?" I asked as I tried to take a peek into it.

"Yeah, Fury came to me a couple of minutes ago and gave me an assignment." I raised my eyebrow in surprise.

"An assignment? What for and how does this involve me?" Steve cleared his throat as he continued.

"Yeah. It's an object I encountered with back in the forties, nearly caused the Nazis to win the war. It gave off a lot of energy and I thought when I…crashed into the ice, the object would disappear as well."

"But it showed up and S.H.I.E.L.D had it since then…it was the thing that Fury went to check on then huh." I muttered to myself as I began to piece bits of the puzzle together. "Let me guess, someone stole it and he wants you to get it back right?" Steve nodded, sighing as he ran a hand though his sweaty hair. Now that I took in his appearance, he looked like he came back from a work out if his sweaty white shirt and white powder on his hands were anything to go by.

"Yes, and I was hoping that you could join me in this assignment." I did a double take.

"Wait what? You want me to help you get this…thing…."

"Tesseract." Steve supplied and I raised an eyebrow at the name but continued nonetheless.

"Tesseract…back from whoever stole it."

"That pretty much sums it up." Steve chuckled nervously. "You don't have to accept. I mean, I know you don't like living here and you don't exactly like me, so taking orders and fighting alongside me wouldn't exactly—"

"No, it's fine. Just getting out of here is enough for me." I muttered. "Besides, I haven't fought in a while so it would be a good chance for me to test out my powers again. I don't want to get rusty."

"Um great." Steve smiled as he patted me on the shoulder. "I guess I'll see you in the morning when we leave. Around 10 if I remember correctly." I nodded as I got off the wall and turned towards my room. Looks like that practice will have to wait until I get back.

"Alright, I'll get ready then. One question though." I said turning back to Steve. "Where are we going?" Steve gave a bittersweet smile.

"Germany."

* * *

**And it's done! Another chapter! I hope you guys liked it, I worked hard on it and hopefully I can write out more chapters before school starts. And I apologize if there are grammar/spelling mistakes. I can never catch all of them. But on a brighter note, seriously you guys are amazing! 5 reviews for one chapter and so many favorites and alerts, you have no idea how happy that made me! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will try my best to continue, and reviews are welcomed! Please, not only do they make my day but it also tells me if I'm going on the right path or not. Once again thank you!**

**Oh P.S my friends and I have actually created a tumblr blog (called Secret Stash of Fanfics) that's dedicated to writing oneshot fanfics about anime and KPop members (My friends are obsessed with EXO and Super Junior) it would mean a lot to me if you could check it out. Here's the link: secretstashoffanfics . tumblr . com**

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**-Midnightmich**


	3. Avengers Assemble?

The Unexpected

**Seriously you guys, you are the best! I cannot even tell you how happy you guys have made me with your reviews, favorites, and subscriptions! I feel so happy! xD It's amazing I haven't died of happiness overload just yet. And because I'm overloaded with happiness I decided to make a goal**** and it would be awesome if you guys can help me out! If I can get at least 15 reviews then I'll post the next chapter as soon as the 15****th**** reviewer reviews my story! And whoever is that 15****th**** reviewer I'll um…let you have a chapter where you can decided what happens in that chapter (like a filler or something but it'll be after the Avengers movie timeline though) or I'll message you and see what you want. "^^ And also, I added links on my profile to drawings I did of my character if anyone is interested.**

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**You guys are the best! And thanks for everyone else that favorited or alerted my story!**

**And now we move onto the story! Please forgive me if some of the Avengers scenes are not correct, (I actually found out that Steve didn't know where Loki was until he got onto the Helicarrier so the part where they get on the Helicarrier is going to be a bit different, sorry I failed you guys OTL) it's been a while since I saw the movie and I'm doing this base off memory. I apologize if I miss something or made a character OOC.**

**Set pre-Avengers, Avengers, and post-Avengers. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avengers, Captain America or the other superheroes in Avengers. Only my character that has yet to have a name.**

**Talking: **Well, that was a bit unexpected.

**Thoughts: **_This can't get any worse right?_

* * *

_Last time_

"_That pretty much sums it up." Steve chuckled nervously. "You don't have to accept. I mean, I know you don't like living here and you don't exactly like me, so taking orders and fighting alongside me wouldn't exactly—"_

"_No, it's fine. Just getting out of here is enough for me." I muttered. "Besides, I haven't fought in a while so it would be a good chance for me to test out my powers again. I don't want to get rusty." _

"_Um great." Steve smiled as he patted me on the shoulder. "I guess I'll see you in the morning when we leave. Around 10 if I remember correctly." I nodded as I got off the wall and turned towards my room. Looks like that practice will have to wait until I get back. _

"_Alright, I'll get ready then. One question though." I said turning back to Steve. "Where are we going?" Steve gave a bittersweet smile._

"_Germany."_

* * *

"You're going to Germany?!" Arthur shouted as he entered my room in the early hours of daylight. I sighed as I used my towel to dry my hair as best as I could. After talking to Steve, I went into my room to prepare for the trip and surprisingly I packed only a couple of things. Seeing I had nothing else to do, I went to take a long and relaxing shower. I just finished changing when Arthur came in and started yelling. "When was this? And why are you going?"

"One question at a time Arthur sheesh." I muttered as I threw the towel into the bathroom. I didn't bother picking it up even though it landed on the floor and not the sink as I had intended. "Yes, I'm going to Germany, why because Steve asked me to accompany him to help him retrieve a Tesseract or something and also because I wanted to get out of this building. I don't think I actually been outside since I came to live here so yeah, going to Germany sounds like a nice idea." I said as I grabbed a bag from the side of my bed, courtesy of Arthur, and threw it over my shoulder. "If you don't mind, I'm going to grab some breakfast before I have to leave so—"

"Hold on a moment, you can't possibly be thinking about leaving with your outfit right?" Arthur asked as he grabbed my wrist. I raised an eyebrow as I saw him look at my outfit with disapproving eyes.

"Seeing that this is all I have at the moment, yes, I'm leaving with this on."

"Well, I can't bloody let you leave like that." Arthur said as he pulled on my hand and forced me out of my room. "Not only will you be easily recognizable but your suit doesn't provide protection! You already have ripped holes in your shirt and jeans!" Pulling me to the elevator, he pushed the button for the floor his laboratory was on and I sighed.

"So, it's better than running around nearly butt naked. So what I have ripped clothes, it's going to provide some protection." Arthur shook his head as the elevator door closed and the elevator made its way to Arthur's floor.

"Some isn't good enough especially if you're going on a mission. You need something that's able to stand against normal bullets bit light enough for you to move around in without too much trouble." Arthur said as we reached his laboratory; taking out his card, Arthur swiped it and placed his hand for DNA identification before the doors opened and we were allowed in.

"How did you even know that I was going to need a new outfit?" I asked Arthur as I waved to Gilbert. Gilbert laughed as he walked towards us.

"Kesesese~ Samantha, glad you could make it. I hope Arthur isn't boring you yet." I smiled at him.

"No not yet, but he's making a fuss about an outfit that I have to wear apparently." Gilbert smiled even bigger.

"Not to worry my dearest Samantha. The Awesome Gilbert will explain it better Kesesesese~" Gilbert laughed as I raised an eyebrow.

"Awesome Gilbert?" Arthur sighed as he pushed me past the laughing Gilbert before he noticed we were gone.

"He thinks that he is above everyone else because he's my weapon specialist. While he is brilliant at times, he's an annoying pest." Arthur smiled as Gilbert heard the comment.

"Hey I'm not a pest! I'm an awesome Prussian—"

"Prussian? Wait isn't Prussia nonexistent now?" I asked. I remembered a scientist back in the hellhole talking about how his brother would go on telling everyone that Prussia still existed even though it didn't technically.

"Prussia does exist!"

"Alright alright, enough with the childish arguing." Arthur said as he pulled Gilbert away. "Now Gilbert I hope you can keep your childish antics to yourself, I really am going to need your help with Samantha's outfit." Gilbert's eye suddenly got a glint to them,

"Wait you mean that outfit?" Arthur smirked as he patted him on the shoulder.

"Yes, that outfit. Now bring out what we have and we'll see if it fits her." Gilbert gave Arthur a mock salute before rushing to get what Arthur requested. I looked at him with suspicion.

"You always wanted to make me a suit didn't you?" Arthur coughed and turned his head away.

"I do not know why you would come to that conclusion; it was just a coincidence that I was working on a suit that would fit a person of your shape."

"Wait when did you take measurements of me?" I asked as I suddenly realized that I never even let Arthur get the chance to take my measurements.

"Well um…Gilbert! Where is that outfit!" Arthur said as he walked towards the direction where Gilbert went.

"GET BACK HERE KIRKLAND! YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!" I shouted as I ran after him, he better have not taken my measurements while I was sleeping!

* * *

"Come out Samantha, please we need to see if my um…predictions about your size was correct." Arthur chuckled nervously. I pulled the door open so that only my face was visible and glared at him.

"Uh huh. Then why does it fit so snuggly?" I asked.

"That's because it's design to fit the wearer. As you can tell, it's a bit stretchy." Gilbert said as he fixed his glasses on his face, looking rather serious for once. Looking down at a clipboard, he checked off something with his pen before looking up. "So how do you like it?"

"Why can't I just wear my original outfit instead?" I groaned behind the curtain, "It would have saved you guys a lot of trouble and not to mention I'm missing breakfast at the moment…" I grumbled.

"Because Samantha, this suit can protect you from normal handgun bullets, it's fireproof, helps regulate the blood flow in your body when you reach high altitudes and supersonic speeds on your board." Arthur said as he pulled the door open and dragged me out of the changing room. I glared at Gilbert as he dropped his pen in surprise as he saw me in my "glorious" outfit of basically black. I had a black tank top, similar to my own, with some thicker material on the side. Instead of pants, I wore black shorts with a diagonal design on it, also thicker than the rest of the shorts. I wore arm protectors, not only to hide my scars but to help "regulate" blood flow in my arms when I went to high altitudes. And I wore ankle high combat boots instead of my worn out shoes I wore years before. I'm going to miss those boots…

"Really now? Bullet proof, fire proof, and over all a pressure suit? I highly doubt it." I said as I raised my eyebrow at the both of them. Arthur only sighed as he nodded to Gilbert who gave me a devilish smile. Before I could ask what the smile was for, Gilbert took out a handgun and shot several bullets at me. At a close distance, I had no time to dodge and so I braced myself for the impact and pain that would come. While I did feel the impact of the bullets, I felt no pain. Opening my eyes—apparently I had closed them seconds before—I looked down at my chest and to my astonishment, the suit wasn't even damaged, in fact all the bullets were on the floor!

"Huh that worked even better than I expected." Arthur said as he came to inspect the damage or rather lack of. "There's not even a dent in the suit. Strange, when we tested it before, there were some small dents in the cloth…"

"Maybe it's stronger since it's now on her? It has a form to shape and therefore has a better chance to harden itself." Gilbert supplied as he put the gun away and grabbed another pen and wrote something on the clipboard.

"Hold on! What the fuck was that? I mean you just shot at me!" I screamed at Gilbert who didn't look fazed as I shouted at him. "What the hell is this material anyways?!"

"Dragon Skin*" Arthur said as he continued his inspection of my suit.

"What?" I asked confused at the name.

"Oh sorry, it's not really dragon skin, but I call it that since there's not really a proper name for it." Arthur as he nodded in approval and whispered in Gilbert's ear who wrote down whatever he said. "Dragon Skin is a material founded in the deep jungles of South America, nearly lost my life trying to get some actually, anyways." Arthur coughed as he got side track, "This material is flexible and breathable just like any other cloth, however, when it's placed over something and molds itself into that shape, it becomes indestructible yet it remains flexible." Arthur explained as he pointed at my outfit.

"Seriously?" He nodded.

"And lately, we've been finding more uses for this material and it keeps surprising us."

"If it's so valuable, why isn't there more of this? And why waste it on me?" I asked as I tapped my tank top with my knuckles only to feel like I was tapping steel. However, when I moved it felt as if I was wearing a stretchy tank top.

"The only reason why we don't have any more of these materials because it's nearly impossible to get to, we lost three men the last time we tried to get more." Gilbert explained as he placed his pen behind his ear and tucked the clipboard under his arm. "And it's not a waste on you. Arthur isn't a field agent anymore so he doesn't need this kind of protection and he trusts you not to hand it over to the wrong type of people." Gilbert smiled before laughing, "Kesesesese, Arthur just wants you to be safe because he lov—" A fist came slamming down on Gilbert's forehead shutting him up. I looked where the hand connected and smiled as I saw Arthur turn red.

"I do not love Samantha like that Gilbert." Arthur said kicking the fallen scientist, "I care for her like a sister that's all. Oh I almost forgot," Arthur said as he looked up at me and smiled. "I have one more thing for you." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a black cloth and gave it to me. "So people have a harder time recognizing you." I opened the cloth and saw it was a mask, not a full face mask but a mask that covered the lower face. "And before you ask, yes it's breathable." I smiled softly at Arthur before taking off my choker, momentarily showing my tattoo, before I put on my mask, not yet covering my face.

"Thanks, that means a lot to me."

"You need like a secret code name now!" Gilbert said as he dusted himself off as he stood up, not affected by his earlier beating. "What about Agent Ninja!" Arthur and I looked at him with a deadpan stare. "What?"

"No." We said at the same time before we heard the door to Arthur's laboratory open.

"Peggy? Are you here? It's almost time to leave." I heard Steve's voice call out as he tried to find me. I looked at the watch on Arthur's hand and saw that it was about twenty minutes before ten. I had taken more time here than I realized. Gilbert raised his eyebrow.

"Peggy?" I waved him off.

"I had different lives which meant different names. Well it looks like I'll be going now." I said as I grabbed my bag and board that I conveniently brought with me. "Yeah I'm back here. I'll be there in a minute." I called out to Steve before I turned to Arthur and Gilbert. "Thanks for the outfit. It's was nice of you guys to give me something like this." Gilbert laughed as he gave me a sudden hug.

"Kesesese~ Please! It was fun for us to actually do all this stuff for someone instead of giving stuff to that stuck up director."

"Just promise us that you'll stay safe alright?" Arthur said as he ruffled my already messy hair.

"I can make sure Peggy comes back home safe and sound sir." I heard Steve say behind me. I rolled my eyes; I could take care of myself.

"Steve how many times have I told you," I chuckled as I turned around, "I can handle…my…own…" As I turned to face Steve full on, I saw him in his red white and blue Captain America outfit and memories from that hellhole came rushing back.

"_You were made to be like him."_

"_Come on get up! Captain America could do this so you should do it even faster!"_

"_Let's see if you still have the same metabolism as Captain America."_

"_Captain America"_

"_You're his legacy whether you like it or not,"_

"_Captain America is the reason why you're suffering," _Vash's voice echoed in my head,_ "he is the reason why you're not normal, he is the reason why your life turned upside down."_

"Peggy…are you alright?" he asked giving me a concerned look as my memories ended.

_That's right,_ I thought as I saw Steve take a step forward and I took a step back, _When I accepted Steve's offer, I should have remembered that I would be fighting alongside with Captain America…the reason for all my pain…But I agreed to anyways because I'm tired of living in secret, I wanted to go out…damn it all…_

"I'm fine," I said in a cold voice, brushing past Steve without giving him a second glance. "Come one, we're going to be late."

"Did I do something?" I heard Steve ask as I walked towards the door, not even bothering to wait for him.

"No lad, it's not you…it's just her past that she has yet to overcome." Arthur sighed as I angrily opened the door and shut it behind me.

"I hate this feeling," I muttered to myself as I clutched my tank top tightly near my heart. "I don't hate Steve, but…I hate Captain America…I hate feeling so conflicted, I hate it."

* * *

"Captain what is the meaning of this?" Fury's voiced echoed in the air craft bungalow. I saw from the corner of my eye Steve…no Captain America…turn around and stood straight as Furry approached him. "I didn't give you permission to take Miss No Name along this mission as well." He said as he stared at me and I happily glared at him back. For some reason Furry just pushed all the wrong buttons on me lately.

"Sir with all due respect, I think this mission will be more successful with Peggy—"

"I didn't ask you to bring anyone on this mission." Furry interrupted Captain America which for some reason made me even angrier. "She's too valuable to be sent on missions—"

"STOP TALKING AS IF I AM SOME SORT OF EXPERIMENT THAT NEEDS TO BE LOCKED UP!" I shouted at Furry surprising him.

"Excuse me—"

"No you listen to me." I growled out, throwing my board to Captain America to hold, "I've had enough of this shit. I have listened and done everything you wanted so I could stay here and not be on the run constantly. I've done all those stupid tests and now you want me locked up as if I was a test subject?! I already been through that for fourteen years of my life, I will not go through that again! You know how long it's been since I've been outside? Do you! Almost two month, TWO FUCKING MONTHS! I will go with Fucking Captain America on this damn mission, and you won't do anything about it." I snarled at him as wind whipped around me, nearly sending him off his feet. Furry glared back at me.

"How will I know you won't take this chance to run?" I turned around and roughly took my board back from Captain America and growled out,

"You're lucky that I promise Arthur that I'd come back, he's the only person I trust at the moment."

Furry said nothing and I guessed that meant I was going on this mission. Captain America patted my shoulder and said something but I ignored him, I didn't want his praise or anything. Two more S.H.I.E.L.D agents boarded the plane before we could finally take off. I sighed as I buckled myself up for the speedy ride; even though it was a jet it would take a while before we would actually land in Germany.

"So, you're Agent Romanoff correct?" I heard Captain America ask as we were four hours into the flight, which during the whole time I stayed silent.

_Agent Romanoff? Wait a minute…wasn't that, that's one of the agents who helped save Alfred if Arthur told me correctly._ I thought as I raised my head to see Agent Romanoff. To my surprise, I saw it was a red haired woman in a skin tight one piece black jumpsuit and fingerless leather gloves. Her green eyes looked at me first before shifting to Captain America.

"Yes Captain America."

"Wait, you helped save Alfred didn't you." I blurted out without thinking surprising the both of them. "Arthur's—err Agent Kirkland's little brother right?" Her eyes locked on me and it looked as if she was studying me before raising her eyebrows.

"You know Arthur?" I nodded, starching the back of my neck,

"Yeah, before all this shit, he was my boss at the Emerald Club. It was a bit of a surprise that he was a secret government agent…although I should have known when he showed me his computer skills." I muttered to myself and to my surprise I heard her chuckle,

"Yes, Arthur is an amazing hacker; he taught me much of his skills." It was my turn to raise my eyebrows.

"Wait he taught you? Wait, did you go on missions with him? What was he like, grouchy?" I asked her as I couldn't help keep the excitement from coming from my voice. Agent Romanoff smiled at me,

"Well you see…"

The rest of the flight passed by quickly as I continued to ask Agent Romanoff more questions about Arthur and momentarily forgot about my hatred towards Captain America as he asked some questions as well. But moments like these never last; as soon as we got near our destination it was time to get serious. Once Steve placed his blue Captain America helmet on, I remembered why I was here and I was back to my cold and serious self.

"Alright, we have our target's coordinates here," Agent Romanoff said as she pointed on a digital map. It was near a fancy place that's for sure if all the cars and security was a sign. "Since we cannot get too close without attracting too much attention, we have to drop the both of you here. " And she pointed to another part of the map at least seven miles away. "You'll have to travel quickly in order to get there before Loki gets away." It still baffled me that our enemy was a god sort of person, I didn't think Gods existed, I thought they only way you could make a person have super strength was experimenting on them.

"Why is he even here?" I asked as I placed my mask up, "And is there proof he has the Tess—Tesser—whatever thing with him at the moment?"

"We don't know why he's here but we're hoping that when we capture him, we can ask him where he's hiding the Tesseract." Agent Romanoff said opening the hatch of the jet, letting a rush of wind into the jet. Grabbing my board I walked closer to the edge of the hatch before I heard Captain America call out,

"Wait Peggy! Your parachute!" I smirked at him as I turned around to face him and walked backwards to the hatch opening.

"You're forgetting Captain America, I own the air." With gymnastic precision, I jumped backwards leaving the jet and I was falling down the night sky above Germany. Letting the wind rush pass me, I closed my eyes as I felt at home with the familiar sensation of the wind before I whipped out my board and began controlling the air in order to stay in the air without falling at high speeds. Once I had a steady speed, I waited for Captain America to catch up before a blur of red, white, and blue flew past me.

"Hurry up, or you'll be left behind." I heard Captain America's voice shout as he sped towards the ground. I glared at his falling figure for a bit before I nosedived and shot myself down towards Earth easily catching up to Captain America within seconds.

"I don't think I'll be left behind today Captain America." I smirked as I saw his astonished face.

Once the both of us landed on the ground we quickly made our way towards the coordinates (and by quickly that meant Captain America had to ride on my board. It was very awkward to say at the very least.) When we were about a mile away from our destination, Captain America signaled me to stop.

"We'll attract too much attention if we continue on your board; we'll have to go on foot from here." He explained and I nodded at his reasoning before pushing a button on the board where it easily became foldable and I strapped it on my back like a backpack. (A new feature Arthur decided to add last minute.) However, the sounds of panicked screams made us realize that maybe perhaps we didn't have to be sneaky at all, Loki had made his move.

"Come on!" I said as I began running towards the coordinates that Agent Romanoff showed us on the plane. Steve said nothing as he grabbed his Vibranium shield and placed it on his arm and ran after me.

"Kneel before me." A commanding voice echoed as we finally reached the main streets of Germany, "I said KNEEL!" the voiced screamed, silencing the people panicking screams in an instant.

"That's not a good sign." Captain America muttered as he picked up his pace and began running even faster to catch up to Loki.

"Hold on!" I whispered harshly as I tried to match his speed but failed, "We don't know who we're dealing with, Captain, Captain!" I whispered harsher to the speeding Captain, but he didn't listen to me.

_He's going to get us killed._ I thought as I saved up my energy and ran at a slower pace behind him, _Why did I agree to go on a mission with the person I hate?_

"Is not this…simpler?" I heard the voice continue to speak sending chills up my spine for some reason. "Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity." As I got closer, I could see a crowd of people kneeling between four men, each with a weird golden curved horn helmet and green and golden outfit. And each carried a golden spear like scepter with a blue light coming from the near tip of the scepter. The man standing in front began walking in the crowd and spoke again,

"That you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity." I curled my fingers together tightly into fists, his words hitting me hard. Subjugation…I had enough of that, I had fourteen years worth of that and I was not going to let anyone experience that ever, no matter how much I hated that person. To have your freedom taken away from you…it's possibly the worst thing for anyone to take away from a person. "You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

_Fuck no,_ I thought as I pushed myself to gain more speed, _Fuck no, I will not kneel and I'll make sure no one else does to a person like you._ Suddenly to my surprise an old man shakily stood up against the man and said in a heavy German accent,

"Not to men like you." Loki, if that was Loki, smirked evilly at the old man.

"There are no men like me." The old man shook his head

"There are always men like you." Loki raised his scepter and pointed to the old man. I didn't like the sight of that and ran even faster even though Captain America was ahead of me.

"Look at your elder people," The blue light from his scepter glowed brighter, and I could see Captain America was about a couple feet away from the crowd and held his shield out in front, ready to deflect anything. "Let him be an example," The blue light glowed even brighter before a powerful jet of…whatever the light was made of, flew towards the defenseless old man. However, before it could even touch him, Captain America jumped in front of him and shielded the both of them with his shield, ricocheting the light back to Loki, knocking him down to the ground. Captain America stood straight up and glared at the green and golden clothed man.

"You know the last time I was in Germany," Captain America said as he walked towards Loki, "and I saw a man standing above everybody else…we ended up disagreeing." Loki slowly stood up, not afraid at least as he saw Captain America walking calmly towards him before stopping a couple of feet ahead of him.

"The soldier…the man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time." He said as I finally made it towards the crowd and stood defensively beside Captain America. Behind us, I could hear the familiar sounds of a jet engine and from the corner of my eye, I saw it was the same black jet that carried Captain America and I here. The jet opened a hatch and a machine gun came out of it, pointing directly towards the god…err Demi-god? Loki just chuckled before he aimed the scepter towards the jet, sending a blue laser at it; the jet barely dodged it and Captain America took this time to attack as the crowd began to run away. He threw his shield at Loki, nearly tossing the scepter out of his hands, and as it came back Captain America rushed forward, grabbed his shield and began punching Loki in the face. However, it seemed that even the super powered punches from Captain America didn't do much damage since Loki didn't even look bothered by the punch.

"Steve!" I unconsciously cried as I saw Loki attack him with his scepter, and even though Captain America blocked it with his shield, Loki punched Captain America into a water fountain several feet away. "Let's see how you deal with me now." I growled out as I rushed towards the Demi-god with my fist ready to punch him. He lazily turned around and gave me a yawn.

"I have no business with you—" Before he could finish his sentence I dropped to the floor, surprising him and swept kick him at his knees, making him kneel instead.

"What did you say about humans kneeling before you? I think it's the other way around." I growled out as flipped backwards in order to avoid a slice from his scepter.

"Peggy, move back!" Captain America said as I saw him get up and throw his shield at the slightly surprised Loki. He; however, deflected it with his scepter throwing it away from the super soldier and snarled as Captain America took this chance to fight him hand to hand.

_Ok fire's out of the question seeing that Captain America might not dodge in time, Wind I could use…along with earth….but…_I looked at the water fountain that Captain America landed moments ago and smirked. _But water would be a pretty good element._ I ran towards the fountain and with a flick of my wrist the water rose out of the fountain and towards me. I saw from the corner of my eye Captain America barely dodging a swipe of Loki's scepter before he was struck in the back, sending him flying again. Loki walked towards him and pointed the scepter at his face.

"Kneel." Loki practically growled out, his back towards him. I saw Captain America look up slightly and motioned with his eyes to attack Loki. I nodded and began running towards the Demi-god with a good amount of water following me.

"Not today." Captain America said as quickly pushed the scepter away from his head and jumped kick Loki sending him flying towards me. I smirked as I directed the large body of water to catch Loki. Surprised at the water, he started to struggle, but I quickly began freezing the water.

"Sorry buddy, but it's game over." I said as Loki's eye glared at me as the water froze up completely. However, his eyes smirked at me (is that even possible…it sure felt like it though…) and I felt my control over the ice escaping and before I could regain my control Loki broke free, the force of the ice exploding sent me flying back.

_Well that was unexpected._ I thought as I flipped back and landed cat like on my feet. _I would never have thought that someone else would have control over water…or is it just ice?_ I thought as I saw a part of Loki's skin turn blue for a moment before reverting back to normal.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here. A lab rat, Subject 0002345 if I am correct. What are you doing outside your cage?" he asked as he raised his scepter. I glared at him harshly before I rushed in to attack.

"That's not my name!" I growled out as I punched and kicked Loki harshly, hardly leaving any room for him to counter attack. Loki merely laughed as my punches landed on him not giving him any real damage causing my anger to rise even higher. "How do you even know about me?" I snarled as I used my forearm to block Loki's attack that he somehow managed to get through and used my left arm to punch him in the stomach.

"Patience, my friend. All will reveal itself in time." Loki smirked as he pulled back his scepter and quickly swung it to my unprotected left side, sending me flying.

"Ow, that surprisingly hurt." I groaned as I got up and saw that Captain America had taken this opportunity to attack Loki.

"Peggy! Are you alright?" he asked not letting his eyes off Loki, but the Demi-dog somehow managed to get around Captain America's defenses and sent him flying towards me. Noticing the water fountain behind me, I quickly pulled out a fair amount of water and used it to cushion his fall. "Thanks, that would have hurt a lot more—"

"Save it, we have bigger things to worry," I said as I stood up and began producing fireballs in both of my palms, halting the Demi-god as he began walking towards the both of us. "You like playing with ice, well let's see if you can handle fire as well." However before I could fire at Loki, loud rock music filled the night sky. Captain America, Loki, and I looked up at the night sky as saw a jet fast projectile moving towards us. When it was about hundred feet away it began taking form of a human…a red metallic human…oh great. Why the hell was he here anyways?!

Before I could ponder on that thought longer, Iron Man quickly came to a stop in mid air and placed his hands out in front of him and shot both pulser rays at the unsuspecting Demi-god, knocking his scepter out of his hands and sending him flying a couple of feet. Iron Man landed on the ground and pointed both of his arms at Loki, one with the pulser ray and the other…well let's just say it was a whole lot of weapons that I had no idea were.

"How about you surrender now?" Iron Man said as Captain America walked towards the billionaire. Loki glared at the man before a slight golden aura surrounded him, removing his helmet and other clothing and replacing them with a normal black suit. He raised his hands in surrender but I wasn't going to take any chances. I slammed my foot down and brought my arms up, causing a full hand handcuff made of the finest materials—almost as tough as titanium and diamond—to rise up from the ground and slammed it on Loki's hand, binding him.

"You know—"

"Better to be safe than sorry." I cut off Iron Man as Loki looked at the cuffs with curiosity.

"Interesting, maybe she would be a better pawn," I heard him mutter, but before I could ask him what he meant I felt a metallic hand on my shoulder and I quickly grabbed it and twisted it.

"Ow, Ow, ow, is that the way you treat your savior?" Iron Man asked as I let go of his hand once he took it off my shoulder.

"Let's get him into the jet now." I grumbled as I turned away from the metallic suit and roughly grabbed Loki.

"Hmm, who are you anyways? You weren't in the files I read last night." Iron Man said as he took off his helmet, revealing his brown messy hair to get a better view of me. I raised my eyebrow; what was he talking about, why would I have a file and why would Iron Man/Tony Stark want with a file?

"She's not part of the Avengers Initiative Mr. Stark; she's a friend that I brought along to help me." Captain America said confusing me even more; Avengers Initiative? What the hell was that?

* * *

After securing Loki inside the jet, the three of us (Iron Man, Captain America and lucky me) stood around our prisoner as Agent Romanoff and another SHIELD agent took off and headed towards America. Steve, along with Mr. Start had taken off their helmets and began some small talk with each other that lasted no more than thirty seconds.

"So what's your name sweet cakes." I heard Mr. Stark ask me about twenty minutes into the flight surprising me slightly. I looked up and saw that Stark had gotten bored trying to talk to the Super Soldier and was now trying to flirt with me. I gave him a small glare before I turned around (sadly I was facing Loki who was surprisingly smirking at me) and ignored him. "Hey don't be like that now. You know who we are but yet I don't know who you are. So what's your name?"

_He's probably a bit mad that he's the only one that doesn't know about me and that bugs him, _I thought as I sighed heavily.

"Don't bug her Stark; if she doesn't want to tell you then she doesn't have to." Steve said as he tried to defend me making me smile a bit as I saw him as Steve and not Captain America at the moment.

"It's fine Steve." I said lazily turning my head back towards the billionaire, "And to answer your question, I have no real name, but you probably know me as Samantha." I smirked as I pulled down my mask for Stark to recognize me better.

"Wait Samantha from the Emerald Club?! Are you S.H.I.E.L.D agents everywhere?" Stark asked exasperated. I chuckled humorlessly as I placed my mask back on.

"Me, a S.H.I.E.L.D agent? Now that's a laugh. No I'm not a S.H.I.E.L.D agent and I don't have any plans to be one. I just agreed to help out Steve and that it." I shrugged as I turned towards Agent Romanoff. "How much longer until we get back home?"

"Another five hours." I suppressed a groan; I didn't want to spend five hours in a plane with a playboy and a world domination crazed Demi-god. And from the conversation I heard Stark having with Steve moments before, I had a feeling that Steve was beginning not to like him either. Suddenly thunder shook our jet rather roughly and from the corner of my eyes I could see Loki tensing up.

"What's the matter, scared of a little lightning?" Steve asked Loki.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." I raised an eyebrow, what else could lighting bring? Rain? Electricity? Each I'm sure the Demi-god could take on easily. Before any of us could ask what he meant, alarms rang out as a heavy thud landed on the jet. Immediately I stood up and looked at the roof to see if there were any dents.

"What the fuck was that?" I asked Agent Romanoff who was busy pushing various buttons.

"Don't know," Stark said as I saw him and Steve putting on their helmets. "But let's find out."

"Are you crazy! Then whoever's on the roof can get in. Who knows, the person could be here for him." I pointed to Loki who scooted away from the hatch even though he was strapped in and cuffed.

"Relax; we can take on whoever's on the jet." Stark said he turned around and faced the hatch as he pressed a button that slowly opened it. I sighed heavily but stood in front of Loki, just in case the person managed to get pass Stark and went for Loki. Once it was fully opened no one appeared for a couple of seconds until a flash of lighting—followed by thunder—struck the edge of the hatch and a shoulder length blonde haired man, wearing what appeared to be medieval armor—except a bit more advance—and a red cape stood there watching. I took notice of his rather large hammer in his right hand and stood a bit more defensively. Stark raised his pulser ray at the intruder but before he could fire, the blonde swung his hammer at Stark and sent him flying past us and nearly into the pilot seat. After taking out Stark, he stormed over to Loki, but stopped as he saw me standing in front of Loki.

"Move." He all but growled as he raised his hammer.

"Make me." I snarled as I went to punch him. The blonde ducked and kneed me in the stomach, knocking the air out of my lungs. I rolled out of the way before he could swing at me with his hammer but when I managed to stand up, I saw that the blond had ripped Loki out of his seat and was preparing to leave.

"Hey!" I shouted as I ran towards the pair and grabbed Loki as well but before I could land a kick on the intruder he flew off…with me as well.

_Holy fuck!_ I screamed in my head as I tried to hold on, the speed the blonde was traveling was unbelievable! _Is it me or does it feel like we're going about the speed of light?_ I could feel my fingers slowly losing its grip and before I could adjust my fingers, I felt a hand on my shoulder trying to rip me off Loki.

_Not a chance in hell! I did not fly for eight hours just to lose this guy!_ With my right hand I grabbed the wrist of the hand on my shoulder and tried twisting it. I could feel the blonde losing control of his flight and before I knew it, a cliff came into view, coming straight towards us at a rather rapid speed.

_Oh fuck,_ I thought as I we spun faster towards the cliff, _This is going to hurt like hell. Looks like I have to go with plan B._ With a heavy sigh, I pried the hand away from my shoulder and reluctantly let go of Loki. Once I had let go of the duo, I flew towards the forest near the cliff.

"Ok, water don't fail me now." I muttered as I quickly made a motion with my arms, sucking the water out of the trees—leaving them dead—and tried to use the water to cushion my fall. As I flew towards the large mass of water, I closed my eyes and braced for impact. I landed in the water headfirst and sadly at the speed I was going, I went to fast for the water to catch my fall and I landed on the dirt rather hard. To make it worse, I managed to hit my head on a rock knocking me out.

* * *

"I was and should be king!" I heard a Loki's voice echo loudly throughout the forest as I regained my conscious. Groaning a bit in pain, I slowly pushed myself up from the mud—probably created by the water I manipulated before my fall—and made my way to the voices. I was not going to let them get away so easily!

"So you take the world I love as recompense…" A different voice bellowed, echoing across the forest. Probably the blonde who took Loki.

_Wait world? What the fuck? Is he another Demi-god? This just gets better and better doesn't it?_ I internally groaned as I pushed myself forward my small head pain slowly going away.

"No, the Earth is under my protection Loki—" Loki laughed, interrupting the other Demi-god.

"And you're doing a marvelous job with that. Humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret. I need to rule them!" I heard Loki's voice rise up and once again I couldn't help but clench my fists. I wasn't going to let anyone take anyone's free will away from them, not now not ever. "That's why—"

"You think yourself above them." The other voice said as I finally made my way towards the cliff. Silently as I could, I walked towards the sound of their voices and stayed hidden behind a large boulder.

"Why yes—"

"Then you miss the truth of ruling brother—" Wait hold on, brother?! They were brothers! "Throne would suit you ill—" I heard a thump and as I peaked over the boulder I saw Loki walking angrily towards me and I ducked quickly, hoping that he didn't see me.

"I've seen worlds you've never known about. I have grown Odinson, in my exile!" Loki snarled as he reached the edge of the cliff and turned towards his brother who followed him silently. "I have seen the true power of the Tesseract and when I—"

"Who showed this power?" Loki's brother interrupted walking towards him, "Who controls the would-be-king—"

"I AM KING" Loki shouted angrily.

"NOT HERE!" The blonde Demi-god screamed back, grabbing him by his uniform and began shaking him. "You give up the Tesseract, you give up this pointless dream…..You come home." The blonde's voice suddenly went down in volume as he ended his sentence, sounding desperate. As I peaked over the boulder again, I saw Loki shake his head, smirking a bit, before answering,

"I don't have it." Loki's brother pushed him roughly as he lost his temper before letting go of Loki and stretched out his right arm. To my surprise his hammer, from earlier, shot straight towards the blonde's hand as if it was magnetize. As he raised his hand as if to strike down his brother, but Loki continued to speak.

"You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off I don't know where." Loki smirked.

_Yeah right, he probably knows where he sent it off to but he doesn't want to listen—wait is that—_I looked up to the sky as I heard the familiar noise of a jet engine only to see a red blur grab the blonde man and fly off, leaving Loki unattended.

_Of course he would do that. _I sighed; _He goes after the blonde, but doesn't make sure that Loki escapes._

"You know you can come out, my brother isn't here anymore." I heard Loki say and I gave out a small curse before rising up from my hiding spot, glaring at the Demi-god. "Nearly didn't notice you there, almost like a shadow." He smirked as I leaned against the boulder.

"What gave me away?" Loki said nothing as he walked towards me and sat down next to me. From our view, we could see Iron Man and his brother beginning to battle it out. "Fine, don't answer. What I would like to know though why aren't you trying to escape? This would be probably the perfect opportunity to do so." Loki just chuckled as we saw Iron Man take a direct hit of lightning from his brother's hammer, but remained relatively unharmed.

"In all due time subject 0002—" in less than a second, I grabbed Loki's throat with my right hand and held him at least a foot from the ground.

"How do you know that number." I growled out as I produced a small blue fireball in my left hand. Huh what do you know, anger makes my control over fire better. "Answer you fucking—"

"Now where would the fun in that be?" Loki chuckled despite my tight grip, "But I guess I should tell you; be careful who you entrust your secret to, who knows you could be sent back to that laboratory sooner than you think."

_Calm down, just calm the fuck down,_ I told myself even though I was panting angrily, _He's just playing with you just like he played with his brother, don't fall for it._

"Why don't you join my side hmm, after all you know the joy of subjugation the best—"

_Fuck this; they never said I couldn't harm him. We just had to bring him back in one piece_ I shouted in my mind as I slammed his head into the Cliffside repeatedly, creating a crater. In a matter of seconds, Loki was knocked out cold and I threw him down, panting heavily.

"Why the fuck did I agree to come along?" I growled to myself as I saw Captain America reach the two and tried to talk them. "This is just going to end badly for me."

* * *

"—eggy, Peggy…Peggy, we're here." I head Steve's voice say as I felt a hand gently shake my shoulder.

"Five more minutes." I grumbled as I slowly opened my eyes before realizing the strain my neck had, great I must have fallen asleep sitting and now my neck's sore. "Wait, where's here?" I asked as I yawned stretching myself out, especially my neck, before standing up. How long was I out?

"One of S.H.I.E.L.D's headquarters, we decided that it would be best if we kept our prisoner here than the headquarters at New York." I heard Arthur's voice echoing from the jet. Steve and I looked up and saw Arthur standing at the edge of the hatch next to Agent Romanoff.

"Arthur…when did you get here…wherever here is." I asked as Steve and I began walking out of the jet.

"A couple of hours ago, I managed to…persuade….Fury to let me on this operation since you're on it as well. The both of you seem to be in good health so that means no trip to the medical bay. Steve, marvelous job on protecting Samantha, thank you." I glared at Arthur.

"Arthur what did I tell—" I stopped in midsentence as I finally reached the edge of the hatch and saw our destination. We had landed on what seemed to be a runway where multiple jets where parked as well; however, the surrounding body of water made me realize that we weren't on land anymore. "Are we…in the middle of the ocean?" I asked in awe as I ran out of the jet and stopped myself at the edge of the boat that we landed on. I looked down and laughed happily at the sight. I had never seen or been to the ocean before, even when I escaped three years ago and I couldn't help but feel…delighted.

_So much water everywhere._ I happily thought as I raised my hands and felt the water slowly obeying my command, _It's a never ending source!_ I smiled as I brought the water towards me and begun circling it around me.

"You've never seen the ocean before?" Steve asked as he walked towards me smiling a bit at my water display along with several other people. I nodded as I made the water circle around Steve before it circled around Arthur and Agent Romanoff.

"When you're in a laboratory, you don't see much of the outside world. And even when I escaped, I made sure to stay away from the coast, they could surround me and while I do have a fantastic control over water, I can only control it for a certain amount of time before I pass out." I explained as I brought the water back over the ocean and released my hold on it and gravity took over. "So I guess something good came out of this." I muttered as I felt the ocean breeze on my skin.

"Hello Agent Romanoff, you wanted me to meet someone?" I head an unfamiliar voice say behind Steve and I. Turning around I saw a man probably in his mid thirties walking towards us in his light brown suit jacket—which he wore a purple dress shirt underneath—and looking a bit uncertain and nervous?

"Dr. Banner." Steve said as he went to shake hands with the Doctor who then turned towards me with his hand stretched outwards.

"Samantha." I supplied, giving him a firm shake.

"Hello Samantha. So you're on this mission as well huh."

"Looks like it. Dr. Banner."

"Hello Dr. Banner, I'm Agent Kirkland." Arthur said as he took this opportunity to introduce himself to the doctor. "I read your work on anti-electron collisions, marvelous really. It's really a pleasure having you here." Arthur his hands with the doctor who looked rather surprised before smiling.

"Thanks, you're probably the only person who knows me from my work and not the…other guy."

"Other guy?" I asked Steve quietly a bit lost at the conversation.

"He um, tried to replicate the serum that created me and it ended badly…." My mind stopped processing the rest of Steve's explanation as I heard that he tried to duplicate the serum. That meant he was a scientist and well…I don't trust scientists very well especially if they worked on the Super Soldier serum, but if Arthur wasn't wary of him…I guess he wasn't that bad…

"Gentlemen, and lady," Agent Romanoff said as she interrupted the two geniuses and snapping me out of my thoughts. "I believe it's time to go inside. It's going to get a little hard to breath." Suddenly the ship started to shake and as I walked back over to the edge of the boat, I saw agents quickly running to the jets, strapping them down while wearing a breathing mask? What was that for?

"Wait, is this a submarine?" I asked as the water violently shook under the boat and I felt engines powering up. In fact it almost sounded like a turbine, but that couldn't be right. I mean turbines are for flying not for swimming right?

"No, it's a bit worse." Dr. Banner sighed as he began walking towards a steel hatch. With a sudden jerk I saw the boat suddenly beginning to rise out of the water instead of sinking into it.

_Holy shit! This enormous ship is a plane/jet/whatever it is!?_ I thought as I walked backwards away from the edge to prevent myself from falling over the edge.

"Come on Samantha, we should go in soon. We won't be able to breathe properly once we gain elevation. Besides, we need to see what Fury can get out of Loki." Arthur said as he took my hand and led me indoors, Steve right behind me.

"A flying boat that carries jets…what has the world come to?" I muttered as I saw the blue ocean slowly disappearing from the horizon only to be replaced with the blue sky.

If I had thought that the idea of a flying aircraft carrier was mind blowing, then the inside destroyed my head. It was almost an exact replica of the headquarters in New York only with more monitorless computers, more projections, and overall more technologyness….was that even a word? See! It was making my mind explode already.

"Here we are." Arthur said as we arrived to a set of steel doors. After punching in some numbers and sliding a card into the card holder near the door, the steel doors slid opened revealing a sort of a conference room with Dr. Banner, Agent Romanoff, Loki's brother (whose name I have been informed of is Thor) and unfortunately Stark sitting around an enormous table. The only difference…the screen was on the large circular table.

"Ah so miss double life has finally joined us, along with capsicle." Stark said, standing up and clapping his hands together. I scowled at his nickname and sat down next to Agent Romanoff while Steve took a seat a couple of chairs away from me.

"What are we here for." I asked, and surprisingly it was Agent Coulson (Arthur had told me his name a couple of days later when I agreed to stay at S.H.I.E.L.D's headquarters in New York, he was actually rather nice to me.) to explained. When did he get here?

"Director Fury is planning to interrogate Loki and wants us to watch, he thinks that other sets of eyes and ears will be helpful." Agent Coulson explained as he pressed a button and the screen on the table turned on and we saw Loki standing in a glass container. Director Fury was a couple of feet away standing next to a control system.

"In case it's unclear, you try to escape, you so much scratch that glass," Fury began talking as he pressed a button on the control system he was standing next to, opening a huge hole beneath the glass container. "Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how this works." Fury continued as he pointed to another button which I assumed would release the glass, excuse me, steel trap. "Ant…boot." He said as he pointed to Loki as he closed up the hole. Loki merely laughed in his cage.

"It's an impressive cage. Not built for me I think." Fury simply stared back.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Loki chuckled, smirking at the camera where we were watching everything unfold.

"Oh, I've heard. The mindless beast, makes play to be the man." From the corner of my eye, I saw Dr. Banner narrow his eyes a bit before relaxing his muscles and continued watching the video feed.

"How desperate are you?" Loki continued as he turned his attention back to the director. "You call on these lost creatures to defend you. Especially that girl who doesn't have a name, only a number." I gritted my teeth together as I calmed myself down, I didn't need to lose control here. At least not yet.

"How desperate am I?" Fury began as he glared at Loki with his one eye, "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you cannot hope to control, you talk about peace and kill cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad you did." Fury growled out the last part. Loki merely shrugged Fury's threat off.

"Ooh. It burns you to come so close, to have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And what for?" Loki asked, smirking as he walked in his cage leisurely. "A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is." Fury didn't seem fazed at all.

"Yeah, well you let me know if Real Powers wants a magazine or something." Fury said before walking out of the view of the camera and our screen turned off.

"He grows on you doesn't he." Dr. Banner said speaking up once the screen turned off.

"That's an understatement." I growled out, crossing my arms and frowned at the black screen.

"Loki's going to drag this out." Steve said, giving me a slight worried look before returning his gaze to the rest of the group, more specifically Thor. "So Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri, that none of Asgard nor any world know. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. Return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." Thor explained placing a hand on his chin.

"An army, from outer space." Steve said as if he was unable to believe what Thor was saying, hell I couldn't believe what he was saying. Aliens, outer space, gods! This was a bit too much for a person to take in.

"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Dr. Banner muttered aloud causing Thor's head to snap up.

"Selvig?" he asks surprised a bit.

"He's and astrophysicist." Dr. Banner supplied.

"He's a friend." Thor nearly growled out, and began pacing back and forth.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Agent Romanoff said and my hatred for Loki began rising once more.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him." Steve suddenly said catching my interest. "He's not leading an army from here."

_Yeah why did he come here quietly, he had the chance to escape back at the cliff. He could have easily over powered me._ I thought as I placed a hand over my chin.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him." Dr. Banner said and I silently chuckled.

"While I do agree with you Dr. Banner, Steve has a point." I said speaking up. "Loki had the chance to run away back at Germany, when Thor was busy fighting Stark. Yet he chose to stay and watch. He probably planning something, that crazy ass bastard." I muttered leaning back on my chair.

"I care how you speak." Thor suddenly bellowed, "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother." Thor finished as he stared at me.

"He killed eighty people in two days." Agent Romanoff said and I whistled. That was a lot of people.

"He's adopted." Thor finished lamely.

"Ok ok enough about Loki and his sibling status." I sighed. "Let's focus on what we know so far. Loki had Selvig under a spell in order to help him open a portal that will lead an alien army into earth. What are the chances of him actually succeeding?" I asked.

"Well, it depends. The cube is highly unstable and in order to have a portal open without collapsing on itself, Selvig needs a stabilizing agent." Stark said.

"Was that why they stole Iridium?" Dr. Banner asked, "It is a stabilizing agent right? Powerful enough to handle the power of the Tesseract."

" 'Fraid so Doc. Stark said.

"So in other words, he can open the portal then." I groaned as I slammed my head onto the table.

"Not quiet Miss double life." Stark said as I heard him pacing around the table. "While Loki's minion can get the other raw materials easily, there's still one major component left. He needs a power source, preferably a high energy density, something to kick start the cube."

"Congratulations, you became a Thermonuclear astrophysics overnight Mr. Stark." Arthur said in a deadpan voice, "Is there anything you can't do."

"Hey your Emerald Club's manager! You're a S.H.I.E.L.D agent?! No wonder I couldn't hack into your employee files. Although I never had trouble hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D's computers before—"

"Wait you're the one who tried hacking into my system!?" Arthur yelled suddenly, "Why you bloody—do you know how paranoid Samantha became after that incident! I should shoot you right here—"

"Ok we'll be outside," I said as I grabbed Arthur from behind and pulled his arm up before he could take out his gun and start shooting at the playboy, not that I would have minded actually. While Arthur struggled in my arms, I calmly walked away from the conference room and made my way towards the door, "Oh and Stark…you're a dead man after this whole thing is over," I growled out as the door closed in front of us. "And you said I had anger issues." I said to Arthur as I let go of him.

"Right, sorry that was completely unprofessional of me." Arthur coughed as he straightened up his jacket. "I had it completely under control." I smirked at him.

"Uh huh, don't worry, Stark riles me up to." I chuckled before my face turned serious. "Arthur do you really know what's going on though? I mean, why did Fury call on all of them to bring back a powerful cube. If SHIELD really wanted to use it for clean energy then why not call Stark on the project in the first place since he is the only guy who has successfully managed to create a self sustaining power source." I said leaning against the wall. Arthur sighed as he ran his hand through his blonde locks.

"I had the same feeling as well Samantha. Something's up."

"And another thing, Loki knew my laboratory name, either that means he's working with Vash or S.H.I.E.L.D isn't what I think it is. And I have a feeling it's the latter." Arthur's eyebrow scrunched up in concentration.

"Well, that doesn't suit well does it? Maybe we should take a closer look at S.H.I.E.L.D's files. Maybe it'll shed some light on this mystery." I smiled.

"Great, now how are you going to access S.H.I.E.L.D's files without raising the alarm?" I asked as Arthur began walking down the hallway.

"Simple, I just need a computer and my phone." Arthur smirked continuing down the hallway. After walking for at least five minutes we entered a small lab with several computers and touch screen projectors littering the room and without wasting a second, Arthur took out a sleek black phone and waved it slowly over one of the projector touch screens and amazingly, numbers began appearing. "This should take relatively a couple of minutes if SHIELD hasn't bothered to update their security system. Huh what do you know, Stark's already trying to hack it." Arthur chuckled as he began typing furiously on his phone, the computer screen revealing what he was doing.

Stark please leave the hacking to the professionals, you'll just get burned.

-Kirkland

Arthur typed and sent it to the many numbers appearing on the screen along with folders, video and pictures. Too many kept popping up and I quickly became lost in all the information SHIELD had, just how many things did they kept hidden from us?

"That doesn't look too good." Arthur suddenly said as he stopped on a file called Phase Two and on the front of the digital file was a missile picture.

"No, that doesn't look good at all." I said as I moved my hand towards the screen and touched the file which surprisingly broke apart and the file suddenly had more pictures of weapons each that would be powered by the Tesseract. "It looks like…they want to create weapons that can destroy half a country in a single blow. And that's probably why they want the Tesseract back." I growled as I slammed my fist down on a nearby table. "Clean energy my ass"

"Oh…" Arthur suddenly said, snapping me out of my thoughts; that 'Oh' didn't sound good at all.

"What do you mean by…oh." I said as Arthur pulled up another file, this time with my face in on it, although it was looking at a different direction as if I was scanning the area I was in. The only thing that shocked me was that it was taken about a three years ago, when I was barely escaped from the hell hole, my hair was messier than it was now and was also smeared with blood and you could clearly see the tattoo on my neck. Arthur opened the file and to my horror, SHIELD had documented my every move, placed notes besides pictures of me as I fought people, and had me categorized as a potential threat.

"How…how did they know about me back then?" I whispered to myself, as Arthur scrolled through the file as more recent photos came up, this time when I was with Steve. Underneath a photo, were the words "Possible Avengers candidate" along with some statistic numbers about my strength, speed, powers and even a bit of my personality!

_Very secretive, doesn't like to share personal feelings, however once provoked Subject 0002345 will burst out and not hold back. How the hell do they even know that about me?! _ Thought as I read some of the description they had about me.

"It's possible that they had a spy in the facility you were in and when you escaped the spy alerted SHIELD and they kept an eye on you ever since." Arthur sighed as he took his phone and waved it back across the projectable touch screen, turning it off. "But I highly doubt that. SHIELD would have extracted you from that place sooner, being the second successful Super Soldier serum candidate; you're more valuable than a cave of gold and diamonds. Anyone would have loved to get their hand on you and I'm sure SHIELD would not have wanted that."

"But it still doesn't make any sense!" I shouted throwing a tray of chemicals roughly to the floor. "Why would they keep a file on me for three years and only decide to make themselves known to me now? Why?" I asked as I slumped down into a chair and placed my hands on my head.

"That I'm pretty sure isn't in the files." Arthur said placing a hand on my shoulder only for me to shrug him off.

"Where's Fury," I suddenly said as I stood up, staring angrily at the black computer screen. "I need to talk to him."

"He's probably heading to Dr. Banner's laboratory. He'll want an update to see if he can locate the cube." Arthur said as he placed his phone back in his pocket before it vibrated. Sighing, Arthur took it out and looked at the phone's screen before smirking. "But first Mr. Stark wants to have an audience with us, specifically me. He wants to know what's my secret." Arthur chuckled as he typed something into the phone before placing them in his pants pocket.

"Where's the playboy?" I asked as I followed Arthur out of the room and into the hallway. I didn't want this to take too long; I needed to have a word with Fury.

"Dr. Banner's laboratory."

* * *

"What took you so long?" We heard Stark's voice as we finally made our way to Dr. Banner's laboratory several floors beneath us. I rolled my eyes as I took a seat next to one of the lab benches far from Stark. "I sent that text ages—"

"—Three minutes ago Mr. Stark, it's no wonder your hacking skills are lacking, you lack patience." Arthur smirked as he leaned on a table next to me. "So did you find what you were looking for? Assuming that you actually hacked into—"

"Yes I have bushy brows," Stark snapped back and I couldn't help but chuckle; Arthur did have rather busy eyebrows… "And I would have found it a lot quicker if you hadn't locked me out—"

"But aren't you Anthony Stark? The greatest mind in America? Surely you would have been able to crack my system easily considering I'm younger than you and have less experience than you." Arthur smirked smugly crossing his arms. Before any more insults could fly, Dr. Banner raised his hands as if he was offering peace.

"Hey we didn't ask you to come here so you could start an ego fight. We're here to see what we should about the information we found out." Arthur raised an eyebrow at the doctor.

"That's not he told me." Arthur pointed at Stark who conveniently looked away at the projector screen in front of him where suddenly my profile came up.

"Huh what do you know SHIELD actually—"

"Yes I know, that's why I want to talk to Fury." I said before Stark could finish his sentence. I threw a pencil at him in order to avoid him opening my file. "I rather wish you didn't look into that file, that's only for me to see and no one else." I glared at Stark who stared back.

"Rather protected of your file? What do you have to hide Miss Double Life? An affair with—"

"Stark," Dr. Banner voice said in a warning tone before Stark sighed and reluctantly continued to search the remaining SHIELD files. "So, you thought Fury was hiding something as well?" Dr. Banner asked me and I nodded my head.

"I don't know why but I felt that something was off. That's probably the best explanation I can give you at the moment. Other than that, I only wanted to hack into SHIELD's files because I thought SHIELD was hiding something about me. And apparently I was right." I sighed. "So what do you think—"

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark and Agent Kirkland? Miss No Name? You're here as well?" Fury's voice echoed in Dr. Banner's lab as the SHIELD director came through the automatic doors. I swerved on the chair I was on and glared harshly at him. Before I could say anything, Stark spoke up.

"Uh, kind of wondering the same thing about you."

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract." Fury nearly growled out before turning on Arthur and I, "And Arthur I expected this from Stark but not from you—"

"You should realize Fury when it comes to family, I'm very protected of them and when Samantha said that she heard from a source that you had some files on her when you specifically told us you had no idea Samantha even existed, well, you should have expected that." Arthur glared at the director as well.

"Arthur—"

"No, no more lies Fury." I snarled as I stood up. "What the hell's going on here?! What the hell do you plan to do when Phase two is complete—"

"I was just about to ask that," Stark said as he walked beside me, "What is phase two?" Before I could give Stark an answer, the doors behind Fury slid open and Steve, carrying a gun that I saw in the file, marched in and slammed the gun on Dr. Banner's desk, well on one the many desks in the room.

"Phase two is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons. Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me." Steve said as he answered Stark. Fury sighed.

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're—"

"Lying now are we Fury?" Arthur said as Stark pulled up the files of Phase Two and showed the weapons blue prints. "That's a very bad habit."

"I was wrong Director," Steve said looking a bit disappointed, "The world hasn't changed a bit." The doors to Dr. Banner's lab opened once again and this time, Thor and Agent Romanoff entered the laboratory, it was getting pretty crowed already.

"Did you know about this?" Dr. Banner asked Agent Romanoff who I thought knew as well since she was a spy as well.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment?" Agent Romanoff asked the scientist who chuckled.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

"Loki's manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what exactly?" Dr. Banner snapped back and for a moment I thought I saw a flash of green in the Doctor's eye.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes," Dr. Banner agreed with the agent, "And I'm no leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." I sighed, I'm beginning to wonder why Fury wanted these specific people together as a team, they couldn't do anything but argue at the moment, not that I was any better.

"What I would like to know Fury, why is it you're planning to use the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction." Arthur suddenly asked silencing everyone in the room, waiting for the answer we've…well they've been dying to hear.

"Because of him." Fury said pointing at Thor who looked thoroughly surprised.

"Me?"

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge mass that leveled a small town. We learned that not only we are not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, out gunned." Fury explained.

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor argued back but Fury wasn't done.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled." And I saw Fury's eyes land on my face a moment before moving on. I growled under my breath, who said I can't be controlled! I know how to control my fucking powers thank you very much.

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve asked sarcastically.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war." Thor nearly roared out surprising all of us.

"You forced our hand; we had to come up with something."

"A nuclear deterrent, cause that always calms everything right down."

"Coming from the man whose industry was built on making weapons of mass destruction." I snorted leaning on a nearby wall. "I'm sure you'd be neck deep if you actually still made weapons—"

"Wait, wait. Hold on!" Stark nearly shouted as he walked over towards me, "How is this about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything about you?" I glared at Stark who stopped merely a couple of feet away. I could see Steve already inching his way towards us, as if he could stop me from breaking this playboy's nose.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor thundered before Fury turned on him.

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" And then, hell broke loose, well almost.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos."

"It's his M.O isn't it?" Dr. Banner suddenly said catching our attention, "I mean what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're…we're a time bomb." Dr. Banner's voice began rising as he unconsciously began back stepping towards Loki's scepter on one of his desks.

"You need to step away—"

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Stark interrupted Furry, not stepping back like the rest of the team was, well minus Thor and me.

"You know damn well why! Back off!" Steve yelled, angry for once, walking towards Stark with a heated glare.

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me." Stark growled back at Steve.

"Yeah? Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off and what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Stark smirked at Steve before I scoffed.

"Really? Because at the club you seemed more like a drunk CEO who's an attention seeker." I smirked crossing my arms.

"Not far, doubling up." Stark said turning his attention to me now, but I continued to glare at him. "Fine you want to get personal, then let's get personal." Stark said pulling out his phone and began reading what he had on his phone.

"Let's see….brown eyes, black hair, five foot five, weighs in about 145 pounds—" I scoffed as I crossed my arms, not threaten at all.

"So what? I could have told you that myself."

"Those are just the basics. There's juicier stuff the farther you scroll." Stark smirked as he began walking away. "Ah here we go….early twenties, blood type O negative, and insomnia due to time in laboratory. So you're a scientist huh." Stark muttered. I clenched my teeth as I finally began realizing that SHIELD knew about me more than I would like them to.

"Stark you better stop reading or—"

"Eats little, once again probably due to experiments that she underwent in laboratory. Has abnormal strength, agility, speed, intelligence. Causes, Super Soldier Serum." Stark turned around and looked surprised for a moment. "You actually tried replicating the serum? Well I must say you did a marvelous job—"

"Stark you turn off that phone right now or else I'll burn you to a crisp!" I shouted as my hands formed into fists prepared to create a fireball at any moment. Stark paid no attention.

"Well, those are just facts; let's see what you've been doing for the past three years. Ooo~ this looks juicy. I wonder what made SHIELD label you as a potential threat. Does the place Los Angeles sound familiar?" Stark asked smirking as I stopped dead in my tracks. Of course I remembered Los Angles, it was the first major city I escaped to when I was on the run; it held my best memories and also held the worst.

I was eighteen, I had barely escaped the hell hole and I was injured. I don't remember much, but I somehow made it to an alleyway without passing by any people. I was on the verge of passing out when I saw a female figure standing…staring wide eye at me at the end of the alley. I had run out of energy so I couldn't run from the female figure so I did the next best thing and I passed out on the hard and wet concrete floor, but I remembered that the figure ran towards me looking scared but also concerned.

I woke up on a soft and comfortable surface which immediately set me on edge, I had never woke up in a comfortably area but when I sat up I saw the female figure from before standing there with a cup in her hand. Her short cropped nearly black hair stood out in all directions—I assumed she had just gotten out of bed—and her caramel eyes gave a warm twinkle as she saw me awake. She smiled at me and handed me the cup which she said held coffee. I didn't take it. However, instead of feeling offended she instead offered some water, all the while smiling at me. And for some reason instead of feeling suspicious of her, I felt as if I could trust her. Something about her reminded me of…home…a place that I really hadn't thought of for quite some time and….it was a nice change really. So when she asked what happened to me…I just let it all out. I told her everything I could remember, all the things I went through for the last fourteen years, what I was, and how scared I was now; scared that they would find me and take me back to that laboratory. Instead of laughing and not believing me or telling me to get out, she smiled softly and gave me a hug.

"It's ok," She told me "You'll be safe here. I'll do whatever I can to do to hide you from them." And foolishly…I took her offer. I didn't know any better really; I just escaped from a laboratory without much knowledge about the world around me. I didn't know how to blend in and I was craving for someone to help me. That was my first mistake. I made it worse when I became close to her and formed a bond, almost a sisterly bond as the days went on. Her name was Samantha, she was eighteen years old, she lived on her own, she was going to school, and she worked at a coffee shop called Starbucks to pay for her school books. She didn't make much money so she was going broke trying to provide for the both of us but she said she didn't mind. She wanted to help me even if it meant that she could go homeless. I stayed there for four months…the longest I stayed anywhere, and I believe because I stayed there for so long…that was the reason for Samantha's death.

It was a normal night; October 5th if I remember correctly. Samantha had gotten a bonus that day and decided that we should celebrate by going out and see a movie. I don't remember what we watched but I do remember when we came out of the theaters…a couple of men had started following us. Samantha thought they were tourists that were lost (she was a bit naïve at times), but I told her that they weren't. I recognized one of them and immediately knew that they had found me and I had to get away. I grabbed Samantha's hand and forced her to run after we turned a street. Unfortunately we had decided on watching a midnight movie so no one was on the streets to help us, we were on our own. They managed to chase us down into an abandon warehouse where twenty or so men surrounded us. I fought the best I could without hurting Samantha but during the chaos, Samantha was captured by one the men and was held at gun point. I remember them shouting at me to stop or they would blow her head…I remember Samantha's tear stained face as she cried to me…telling me to run…I remember yelling at the men to let her go and I would follow them without fighting….and most of all I remember the smirk of the man holding Samantha as he shot her in the head, killing her instantly.

I froze as I saw Samantha's bloody form falling to the floor, her eyes lifeless, her skin going pale, and her blood beginning to stain her favorite blue t-shirt she wore that night. Samantha's death snapped something inside of me and before I knew it, power as I never felt before flowed through my veins, powering my abilities over the elements more than I could ever could on my own. Each element began circling around my body forming a protective barrier as it waited for my command to strike. (**A.N. Think of it as Aang's Avatar State when he faces the Fire Lord in the last two episodes**) As I looked into the sunglasses of the man who killed Samantha, I saw that my eyes turned into a glowing bright blue before the power inside became too much for me to handle that I let it all out. With a pain filled cry, all the elements that circled around me shot out to each of the men, stabbing, slashing, and burning each and every single one of them. It took just five seconds to kill twenty men, five seconds to kill the people responsible for Samantha's death, but it only took one second to take Samantha's life.

After I regained my senses, I rushed over to Samantha hoping that despite the shot to the head she survived, but I knew I was just joking to myself, no one could have survive a shot to the head at that close of a range. As I held her lifeless body in my arms, I let out tears for the first time in fourteen years, letting them spill onto Samantha's face. I had failed to protect Samantha, and I knew her death was because of me. If I had not gotten close to her, had I just left her a month or two before then perhaps Samantha would still be alive. As sobs racked my body, I heard the distant sounds of sirens and I knew it was time to go. As I slowly removed Samantha's body from my arms, I silently made myself a promise. I promised myself to never get close to another person again, nor to stay in one place for longer than two months. That way, no one would get hurt because of me…so no one would suffer the same fate Samantha did. I broke that promise three years later when I gotten close to Arthur and Steve though.

"Ah so it does mean something to you huh." Stark's voice snapped me out of memory lane, reminding me that he was about to reveal something very personal.

"Stark—"

"Let's see…takes refuge in Los Angles after escaping a laboratory, rooms with a young woman named Samantha Sibal; age eighteen, lived on her own, went to Long Beach University, and worked at Starbucks—"

"Stop reading the damn file!" I shouted as I stomped over to Stark who walked away from me, taking shelter behind Banner.

"Stop now? Oh no, not when we're getting to the good part." Stark smiled as he sidestepped and moved towards the back of the building. "Let's see what else. Oh you lived with Samantha for four months until—"

"Stark!" I screamed as I produced a fireball in my hand which led to Agent Romanoff pulling out her gun and pointed at me. Arthur quickly pulled out his own gun and pointed to Agent Romanoff.

"Arthur—"

"Don't Arthur me, Natasha." Arthur growled out. "You know very well Samantha isn't any danger—"

"She's producing fire—"

"Only because Stark is riling her up." Steve said standing up for me as he walked toward Stark as well. "Stark stop reading—"

"Until you were found by twenty agents from the laboratory on October 5th, cornered into a warehouse where you fought but one of the agents killed…Samantha and in return…you killed…twenty men in five….seconds." Stark slowly said as he finished the rest of the report where a picture of my powerful state showed up on screen with the bodies of the men who tried to take me back laid all around me, blood surrounding each and every single one of them.

I was moments away from punching Stark so he could shut up but as he read those last couple of words…my fist stopped inches away from his face. I slowly pulled my fist away from his face and glared at him instead.

"Happy now?" I muttered as I turned away from the picture and away from the rest of the "Avengers" "Now you know what made me a potential threat." I whispered harshly before spinning around and glared as hard as I could at Stark. "And you know I didn't want be a participant for the Super Soldier Serum. I was forced against my will Stark. At the age of four, I was fucking injected with the damn thing and lived my life as a damn lab rat!" I shouted at Stark losing control of my emotions quickly.

"I didn't—"

"That's enough Stark." Steve growled as he stepped in front of him, glaring angrily at him. "Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds." Before Stark could give him an answer Thor merely laughed.

"You people are so petty and tiny—"

"Petty! You calling us damn fucking petty!" I shouted turning on a surprised Thor. "I'll show you damn petty!" I growled out as raised my fire balls to fire at Thor when someone grabbed my waist. "Damn it let me fucking go! I'll show him who insignificant!"

"Samantha calm down!" Arthur said as he struggled to keep a hold on me.

"Miss Jones, you need to—"

"Fuck no!" I snarled as another pair of slim but strong arms restrained me, most likely Agent Romanoff. Normally I'm more composed than this, but after what Stark read aloud, all my pent up anger just flew out and Thor happened to be the unlucky one receiving it all.

"Miss Jones, calm down or else we'll be force to place you in a secured room." Fury's voice rang out but if anything it increased my anger.

"So you can perform more tests on me? No I'm done with all of this. I'm done with all the damn secrets. I want to know how you knew about me! How you knew about my existence ever since I escaped! What do you plan to do with me?!" I screamed pushing Agent Romanoff and Arthur off me.

"Samantha please—"

"Don't you start as well Dr. Banner!" I snapped at the doctor as he tried to calm me down. "I had enough of this. I just want to know what's really going on for the first time in my life. I want to know I won't get hurt, I can trust somebody but that doesn't seem to be the fucking case!" I screamed as I unconsciously stepped backwards towards the table where the scepter was. "Is that too much to ask for damn it!?" I screamed as I grabbed onto something.

"Peggy, put down the scepter." Steve suddenly said confusing me for a moment.

"What do you—" As I looked down at my hands I noticed that I was indeed holding the scepter and nearly dropped it in surprise. I had no intention of using the weapon but I guess in my anger state, I unconsciously reached for it. Carefully, I placed it back onto its hold as everyone looked at me with caution.

_Is it really too much to ask?_ I thought sadly as Arthur rushed up to me and asked me if I was ok. I didn't answer him as a small beeping noise echoed in Banner's laboratory indicating that the location of the Tesseract was found. I had no interest and slowly slumped to the floor sighing deeply as I tried to get a handle over my emotions again.

"Samantha, it's alright—"

"No Arthur it isn't alright." I muttered as I heard the rest of the Avengers arguing who should retrieve the Tesseract. "I made up my mind. Once this is all over, I'm leaving. I can't handle this anymore—wha…what's that thumping." I whispered to myself as I felt small vibration on the metallic floor.

"What do you mean Samantha? There's nothing thumping—" I raised a hand to shush him and focused on the location of the vibration. Having power over earth meant I also could feel the Earth underneath my feet if I focused enough. However, I never thought I could feel it through metal; my power must be evolving quicker than I thought. I closed my eyes and laid both my hands flat against the floor and concentrated on the vibration. With my eyes closed I formed a mental picture of the whole flying cargo ship within seconds as I felt through each metallic structure. Soon I found the vibration generating from an arrow outside the ship. Sensing that the arrow was also made of a metallic structure, I looked inside of the arrow and saw that it held enough explosives to destroy a tower. The vibration sped up and I knew the arrow was close to denotation. I snapped my eyes open and shouted,

"HIT THE DECK!" Just milliseconds later and explosion racked the entire ship and with a ventilation system inside Dr. Banner's laboratory, a miniature explosion pushed all of us off our feet and shattered the glass surrounding the laboratory sending Agent Romanoff and Dr. Banner flying several floors below. I groaned as pushed myself up from the floor and coughing out the smoke from the explosion.

"Peggy are you alright?" I heard Steve ask as I saw his form get up from the explosion.

"Yeah, nothing broken." I coughed as I looked around at the damage done. "Arthur?"

"I'm fine Samantha." I heard Arthur's voice several feet away from me. "I think we're being attack if the explosion is anything to go by."

"Then let's get suited up." I said as I pulled my mask up and saw Steve helping Stark up. "Let's go boys." I growled as I ran out of the laboratory worth both of them behind me.

_Time to let off some steam_ I thought gleefully as I found my board and ran towards the explosion area, ready to fight whoever came towards my way.

* * *

**And that's a wrap. Thank you reading this far, it really means a lot to me. And I apologize if I once again missed any spelling/grammar/etc. mistakes. They always escape me. "OTL**

***Dragon Skin: What can I say; it's a material I made up. *Shrugs* It doesn't exist in real life and I'm sure Arthur explained how the cloth works and all that. **

**And please review, not only does it make me incredibly happy, but it also tells me if I'm heading towards the right direction. Thank you and hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up before school starts on September 5****th****. *crosses fingers* Once again thank you for reading/favoriting/alerting/reviewing! **

**-Midnightmich**


	4. Realizations

The Unexpected

**AUTHOR IN NEED OF BETA READER:**

**Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone will be willing to be my beta reader. I have chapters that are done but I need someone to look at it and tell me if there are mistakes or if I should add/delete anything. It would be really helpful. PM me if any of you guys are interested. Thanks!**

**Hey I'm back. It's a bit late yeah I know but I'm working on my other stories and yeah. (I'm nearly done with my NarutoxFMA brotherhood crossover story so I worked on that mostly) and not to mention I'm working on another story which is really irresponsible of me, but hey I can't help when plot bunnies attack me so please bear with me. And I'm sorry if the story is sounding a bit boring/bad I'm not that great of a writer and I'm trying my best to improve and sorry if there's any mistakes.**

**Thanks for reviewing:**

**Mistriss-Nightmare: I'm glad you're in love, ^_^ I hope you'll still like this story even if it sucks.**

**Guest **

**And anyone else I forgot Oh and thanks for all the people that favorited and alerted my story! It means a lot to me.**

**Set pre-Avengers, Avengers, and post-Avengers. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avengers, Captain America or the other superheroes in Avengers. Only my character that has yet to have a name.**

**Talking: **Well, that was a bit unexpected.

**Thoughts: **_This can't get any worse right?_

* * *

_Last time_

"_HIT THE DECK!" Just milliseconds later and explosion racked the entire ship and with a ventilation system inside Dr. Banner's laboratory, a miniature explosion pushed all of us off our feet and shattered the glass surrounding the laboratory sending Agent Romanoff and Dr. Banner flying several floors below. I groaned as pushed myself up from the floor and coughing out the smoke from the explosion. _

"_Peggy are you alright?" I heard Steve ask as I saw his form get up from the explosion. _

"_Yeah, nothing broken." I coughed as I looked around at the damage done. "Arthur?"_

"_I'm fine Samantha." I heard Arthur's voice several feet away from me. "I think we're being attack if the explosion is anything to go by."_

"_Then let's get suited up." I said as I pulled my mask up and saw Steve helping Stark up. "Let's go boys." I growled as I ran out of the laboratory worth both of them behind me._

_Time to let off some steam. I thought gleefully as I found my board and ran towards the explosion area, ready to fight whoever came towards my way._

* * *

"Head to Engine Three I'll meet you guys there." Stark said as he turned down a different corridor to get suited up. Steve and I looked at each other before nodding and headed towards the exploded engine.

"So what's the plan?" I asked Steve as we raced towards the engine.

"Hopefully get the engine running before they take out another engine and we end up dropping." Steve explained as we reached a heavy duty door and Steve forced it open. As the both of us entered the engine room, we passed several agents tending to a wounded soldier before we saw the damage the engine had gone under.

"Damn, an arrow did all this?" I whispered to myself as the wind whipped violent around us. The engine room was at least three fourths destroyed, the platforms that existed before were violently ripped apart, bits of metal scraps littered across the floor—what was left of it—and sparks flew as some of the electrical equipment were destroyed in the blast as well. I'm damn lucky I know how to fly on this board otherwise, one miss step and I'm a goner.

"Stark," I heard Steve yell into his earpiece, "We're here."

"Good," I heard Stark in mine as well as he flew out and steadied himself on part of the engine several feet above us. "Let's see what we got. I gotta get this super conducting cooling system back online before I can access the rotors and work on dislodging the debris." Stark muttered to himself as he placed a part of the engine or was it a motor piece…back before flying a bit higher.

"Samantha I could some help in clearing the debris. Seeing as you're the only one who can fly—"

"On it." I said as I threw my board out into the air and jumped on it, steadying myself immediately. "And when did my name become Samantha?" I growled as I glided towards him, still pissed at him for his actions earlier.

"Um, later. Now Steve I need you to get engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position." Stark said as he carefully cut away a piece of debris in the way of the engine before he motioned me to follow. I sighed deeply before slowly following him on my board.

"What does it look like in there?" I heard Stark ask as we reached the engine. There was a pause before Steve replied,

"It seems to run on some form of electricity."

"Well…you're not wrong." I said almost forgetting that Steve didn't really know about modern technology, but I really had no room to say anything since I was almost in the same predicament as him. As I followed Stark deeper into the engine, Stark blasted away a piece of metal before we finally reached the down turbine.

_Huh, looks like mine…only bigger._ I thought as I hovered across the turbine and inspected the damage. _And not moving…_

"Well the relays seem intact. What's our next move?" Steve asked.

"Even if I clear the rotors, this thing wont re-engage without a jump. I'm going to have to get in there and push." Stark sighed as he hovered next to me and inspected the damage as well.

"If that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded." Steve shouted.

"Not if I can control the wind." I spoke up. "Turbines only work if there's wind going through there so if I can control the air as Stark is pushing the rotors, he can get out safely before he get's shredded."

"Isn't that a bit too much? Can you even control wind—"

"I know my limits Stark, this won't be that difficult." I snapped as I lowered myself down and began moving away the debris in the motors. "Well are you going to help or what?!" I shouted over the wind.

"I'm coming I'm coming." Stark sighed as he laser cut some of the other debris on the rotors and jumped on them to break it apart. It took us only about a minute or so to clear the debris when I heard Arthur's voice rang out in our ear pieces.

"Power systems are down. Agent Barton just took out the system and engine one is down. We're losing altitude." As Arthur said those words I could see already the ship quickly descending. That wasn't good. "Stark we can use that other engine right about now."

"Yeah, I noticed." Stark muttered as he got into the rotor and tried pushing it but due to the heavy weight and parts of the rotor still stuck, it was almost impossible to start it soon and by the looks of it, we needed it now.

"Stark, at the speed we're descending how long will it be before we reach ground levels?" I asked into the earpiece as I quickly followed the descending ship as it lowered below the clouds.

"Well, unless we have this motor running, not that long." Stark grunted as he tried to move the rotors again. I bit my lip at the information and quickly came up with a solution that wasn't going to end too well for me.

"Stark looks like I can't help you to slow down the turbine so you can get out." I said as I quickly flew down to the underside of the ship.

"What?! Why!" I heard Stark grunt, probably still trying to get the rotors to spin.

"I'll be trying to lift the ship for as long as I can." I said as I positioned myself directly in the middle of the boat and closed my eyes in concentration.

"Are you mad?! You can't possibly support this entire ship on wind alone!" Stark yelled along.

"Samantha, this is bloody—"

"Stupid, yeah I know," I said as I stretched my arms out and began to feel the air around me, "But it's not like we have any other option at the moment, so we're about to find out how much I can carry with my wind." I muttered as I opened my eyes and began manipulating the wind around me to form a wind tunnel going over 100 mph. I gritted my teeth as I realized that the diameter of the wind tunnel I created didn't have enough surface area to be really effective. If I wanted the ship to stay afloat as much as possible then I would need to extend the diameter of the wind tunnel that it would reach at least ½ or even possibly 3/4ths of the ship, and also make sure that the speed of it didn't slow down, it would probably be best if I speed it up actually.

_Alright, let's see what happens if I do this._ I thought as I began spinning my body clockwise to create a bigger air tunnel that could hopefully support the weight of the flying aircraft carrier until Stark got the engine running again. As the diameter began expanding the wind speed in the tunnel slowly began decreasing but I pushed myself to force the wind to whip around me faster. It also didn't help that I was constantly supporting almost the entire weight of the boat just on my power of wind alone. It was surprisingly taking its toll on me despite all the harsh training I did years before. After a while of spinning at speeds of nearly 200 miles per hour, I could finally feel the speed of the ship slowing down significantly, but I didn't know how much longer I could keep this up. This ship was heavy as hell and I have never spun this much or quickly before. It was only a matter of time before I gave into the pressure and fall to my death. Something I wasn't really looking forwards to.

"Sam—are—ight—at—here—" Arthur's cracked voice entered my earpiece but I could understand it, not with the strong wind whipping around me over two hundred miles per hour. Not to mention I was beginning to feel very dizzy…and nauseous.

"Hurry up Stark. I can't—keep doing this forever." I groaned as I nearly threw up. Not only was I spinning, but I was slowly getting caught in the wind tunnel and beginning to fly upwards. This couldn't end well.

"—old—natha—get—Steve—lever!" I heard Stark yell into the earpiece. I held on for a couple more seconds, knowing that Stark was nearly done, and I nearly cried out in happiness as I felt the Ship slowly ascending on its own. However, I had spent nearly all my power on the wind tunnel and I couldn't keep it going any longer, I was spinning too fast for any normal human to stay conscious and I was losing control very quickly.

"STARK!" I shouted before I lost control over the wind tunnel and without the proper control, the wind violently ripped me away from my board and I shot straight up towards the ship, creating a nice human size dent on the metal shell of the ship before I began plummeting towards Earth.

"Peggy!" I heard Steve shout in my earpiece as I saw him standing on the edge of the ship looking helplessly as I fell towards Earth. "Stark!"

"On it." I heard his voice say as I saw a blurry red figure flying towards me catching me bridal style in midair. "Saving damsels in—"

"Save it." I groaned as I dry heaved in Stark's arm, black spots forming in the corners of my eyes. "I'm not in the mood right now. Oh god, I'm never doing that again." I heard Stark's engine beginning to fail, and we fell down a couple of feet before his engine started up again, not before stuttering and I groaned again. "We're going to fall to our deaths aren't we?"

"Not quite." Stark said as he shot straight towards the aircraft but more specifically Steve, throwing me at him mind you, before throwing himself at a man wearing a black protective suit—pointing a gun at Steve—and effectively saving Steve from the gunshot wounds and made it safely back on the ship. I cursed loudly as I flew towards Steve thinking that we would both end up on the ground, but to my surprise Steve had caught me bridal style. What's with people catching me like that?

"Are you ok?" Steve asked as he carefully helped me stand on my two legs. I swayed in Steve's arm as I tried to get my vision back to normal. However, the black spots started to grow bigger and I was beginning to feel sleepy.

"Remind me…spinning is…bad…over two hundred….miles….per…hour…I'm going to hurl." Quickly pulling down my mask, I shoved myself out of Steve's arms before releasing my stomach contents over the edge of the ship. "Fuck." I cursed before my legs refused to support my weight and I succumbed to the welcoming darkness.

* * *

"—Antha…Samantha…are you awake?" Arthur's voice echoed through the darkness as I slowly gained conscious. Groaning in pain, I slowly opened my eyes and saw a bit worse for wear Arthur staring down worryingly at me. Dried blood decorated the right side of his face, nearly covering his eye, cuts littered across his face, dust and blood as well colored his black suit, showing a bit of rips. Not what you would normally expect to see on a prim and proper looking Arthur.

"I'm starting to hate wind now." I grunted as I sat up from my bed. Looking around the room I noticed I was in some sort of an infirmary room if the soft white bed and the sign infirmary on top of the door meant anything. Steve probably took me here after I passed out. The walls were a dull grey color and the floor was steel instead of white tiles you normally see in hospitals or recovering rooms but at least they were thoughtful enough to give me a nightstand…note the sarcasm please. "Ugh, I could use something for my headache though, my head is pounding" Arthur chuckled as he passed me a pill and a glass of water.

"Thought so. Spinning at those speeds should technically kill a person, especially when you impacted the ship. Left a nice size dent. Luckily your board managed to survive when it cut through the ship like a hot knife through butter." Arthur smiled as he showed me my board, still in one piece and relatively scratch free. Only the paint job was a bit damaged but who cares. "Oh and those pills should help get rid of the headache, they have three times the normal amount so it should at least affect you. Courtesy of Gilbert." He smiled as I quickly swallowed the pills and drank the entire glass of water.

"Gilbert? I thought he was in charge of weapons, not…medicine." I said as I placed the glass down on the table next to my bed and slowly stood up. "Where are the others? What happened?" Arthur placed a hand on my shoulder trying to get me back into bed.

"Samantha you really shouldn't be out of bed, you still need to—"

"I'll be fine Arthur really." I said as I shook his hands off and grabbed my board. Once I had my board securely on my back, I went towards the steel door that quickly opened as I stepped neared it not before I nearly fell over due to a small wave of dizziness. "Now answer my questions please." Arthur sighed as he followed me out of the room and down the hallway where I saw many men and woman tending to their injuries.

"Gilbert is a weapon specialist and also a chemist so this is nothing to him. The others…Agent Romanoff is with Agent Barton in another room as he's fighting off Loki's mind control."

_Ah, so he must be the one that Agent Romanoff said that was under his control._

"Dr. Banner…well he went Hulk and fell out of the ship and we don't know where he is at the moment. Same with Thor, we don't know where he is after Loki dropped him in the steel trap we designed for Loki. Stark and Rogers…they're in a small meeting with Fury at the moment. As for what happened, as you know Loki's minions quickly started to invade the ship, there were some casualties but I believe the only death on the ship was Agent Coulson. Loki stabbed him in the heart with his spear...there wasn't anything we could do to save him when we finally reached him" Arthur sighed and I stopped dead in my tracks. Loki had killed Coulson? While I hadn't known Coulson that well, I knew he was a good man. He was very kind to me while I stayed at SHIELD and made sure I was up to date with some stuff. He didn't deserve to die especially by Loki's hands. I clenched my fists together and growled out to Arthur.

"Where' Stark and Steve now?"

"Probably—"

"I know you can hack into SHIELD's security feeds. I would like a confirmed location if you don't mind." I said waiting as Arthur pulled out his phone.

"What do you plan on doing when you find them?" He asked.

"I would like to know if they're ready to kick some demi-god ass." I growled out. "Loki has gone too far and it's time we act like a damn team and take him down." Arthur's phone beeped and he sighed before giving me their locations.

"They're a floor beneath us, head to section B and—"

"Thanks." I said as I speedily began walking towards my destination.

"Be careful. " Arthur shouted, "And make sure you don't do anything stupid." I chuckled at Arthur's choice of words.

"I'll be careful," I shouted back before muttering to myself, "But I can't guarantee that I won't do something stupid."

* * *

"Should have known." I sighed to myself as I took two steps at a time was I took the stairs down. "When a boat blows up, elevators tend not to work—huh Steve?" I asked aloud as I saw the super soldier, not wearing his top uniform on and wore a blue long sleeve, running up the steps. "Hey what's going on?" Steve looked up and smiled at me.

"Peggy, you're alright. Thought you were going to be out for an hour or more." Steve huffed as he reached me. I rolled my eyes before giving him a small smile.

"Remember I'm practically a clone of you. Just because I faint from dizziness doesn't mean I'll stay down forever. But seriously what's the hurry?" I asked, following Steve as he began racing up the stairs.

"Loki's going to use Stark's tower to power up the portal. We need to stop him before he succeeds. Stark already left to fix his suit and he plans to meet us there, and we need to back him up." He explained as we reached the floor I was on minutes ago.

"Don't you need to suit up?" Steve smiled at me as we turned a corner and entered a small room where the rest of his uniform was hanging.

"Not a problem. Now to get the rest of the team…or what's left of it." Steve said as he quickly took off his blue long sleeve and put on his other blue top with the strips on his stomach. Taking the belt, shield, and the helmet off their perch he motioned me to follow and we were on our way to the infirmary. "Can I ask you to—"

"Join you? Wouldn't miss it for the world." I smirked darkly, planning Loki's demise already.

"Great, I knew I could count on you." Steve smiled as he placed his helmet back on his head. "By any chance do you know—"

"Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton are in room 221. A couple more doors down." Arthur's voice rang out in my earpiece making me smile. "I thought you could use some help."

"Thanks." I said as I pointed to the room where Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton were in. "We'll need it," As Steve adjusted his shield the door to the Agent's room opened and we saw Agent Romanoff stand up and looked a bit surprised to see us.

"Time to go." Steve said

"Go where?"

"We'll tell you on the way. By the way can you fly a jet?" I asked the agent before another door in the room opened reveling a man with brunet cropped hair, brown eyes, and wore a black suit almost identical to the men who invaded and freed Loki. While he looked a bit worse for wear, he didn't look too tired.

"I can." He answered and Steve looked at Agent Romanoff and she nodded as if saying we could trust him.

"You got a suit?" Steve asked the man who nodded. "Then suit up."

Minutes later, once we all had our weapons and suits ready, the four of us walked out of the infirmary and headed towards the upper level where they had all the jets. Our new companion, Agent Barton, had changed his outfit. He now wore a thick, probably bullet proof, purple tank top with black side padding's. And his weapon of choice…arrows…strange but I wasn't going to comment, I mean if he helped saved Alfred then he was probably one of the better agents. Agent Romanoff restocked her ammo and made sure she had plenty of guns. Steve was already prepared and I…well I was already in my battle suit and I was ready to take on Loki.

"Samantha, just so you know Stark has already left the workshop below." Arthur's voice rang in my earpiece. "You might want to leave soon."

"Copy that." I said as I pulled my mask up, walking beside Captain America and Agent Romanoff as we neared an open jet. As we entered the jet two men stood up from the pilot seat, but only one of them walked towards us.

"Hey, you guys aren't authorized to be here—"

"Son," Steve sighed looking at the pilot. "Just don't."

"Wait you guys need a ride?" A familiar voice asked, coming from the other pilot. As I took a good look at the other pilot I gasped out loud.

"Alfred!? What the—you're—SHIELD?" I asked, lost for words for the first time. Alfred turn around, smiling sheepishly as he stood ready at command. "I thought you were in college!"

"Oh hi Samantha…I didn't think um…don't tell Arty about this please? He could really bust a vein and I don't want him to have a heart attack at the age of twenty five." Alfred chuckled. "Hey Natasha and Clint!" he waved to the two agents who gave him a small smile in return. Oh, Arthur is so going to kill the both of them when we return.

"Um…I think he already knows….well at least he's been informed now." I winced as I heard Arthur in my earpiece yelling at Fury in the background, asking why Alfred was in SHIELD. "Did you know—"

"That Arty was a SHIELD agent, yeah, when I enlisted here not too long ago." Alfred chuckled, not the least bit mad that he knew his brother never told him is real job five years ago. "Although I should have known he wasn't a government secretary especially with his skills on the computer." Alfred pouted childishly, "And it would have been so much cooler to tell my friends that my brother was a secret agent instead of a secretary!" I chuckled at Alfred's behavior; he would say that. At least it didn't look like he remembered what happened to him five years ago, but I could be wrong.

"Well son, are you going to let us fly this jet or not?" Steve asked as the other pilot was escorted out by the two agents. Alfred smiled brightly at him.

"Let you guys fly my baby? Oh no, I'll fly you guys there. Besides no one can fly like I can." Alfred smirked as he placed his helmet on his head and went to the pilot seat, surprising the both of us. "Seat belts ladies and gentlemen…this is going to be a fast ride." I heard Alfred's voice echo in the jet as he closed the hatch of the ship. As he flipped several switches on, Arthur's voice rang in my ear.

"Samantha, you get Alfred out of that Jet right now—"

"Sorry Arthur," I said as the jet began powering up, "But we have a portal to close." I said before the jet sped off and flew out of the flying aircraft carrier. We spotted Stark taking off in his Iron Man suit and began following him.

"Let's get the show on the road!" Alfred laughed as he gunned the jet and we sped towards the Stark tower at almost impossible speeds, following the trail Stark left as he sped off.

"Can't this thing go any faster!" I yelled to Alfred as I saw a blue light, coming from Stark Tower, shoot up into the sky and creating a black hole which didn't look very good.

"I didn't have time to fill the tank completely, so I'm running a bit low on jet fuel." Alfred grunted as he finally reached the mainland and steered the jet out of the way from the tall skyscrapers. "So I gotta save some fuel."

"Looks like your flying still hasn't improved." I heard Clint mutter behind me, and as I turned around I saw him grabbing tightly to a handrail since the only seats available were the other pilots seat and the one I was sitting in right behind Alfred.

"Nah, you're still weak in the stomach that's all." Alfred chuckled before it abruptly stopped. "Um…were alien looking things supposed to come out of that portal?" He asked as I quickly got up from my seat and looked out the pilot's window. I bit my lip as I saw hundreds of silver looking aliens on miniature flying contraptions coming in hordes out of the portal and down into the streets below.

"Alfred…"

"On it. Good thing this jet as some weapons." Alfred muttered as pressed several buttons and placed his right hand on a joystick that appeared next to him.

"Don't you need—"

"Don't worry Natasha, I can multitask." Alfred chuckled, answering the secret agent's question. "Besides, I need to get you guys down there that's not going to be possible if one of you is helping me."

"Watch out!" Steve shouted as a couple of aliens noticed us and began firing the same blue light Loki fired from his scepter. Sticking his tongue out in concentration, Alfred veered the jet out of harm's way before he began firing at the aliens.

"Stark!" I shouted into my earpiece, hoping that Stark could hear me as we finally reached the mainland of Manhattan. "We're heading northeast!"

"What, did you stop at a drive through?" Stark said and I could hear the commotion in the background as he fought off some aliens. "Sing over towards that park, I'm going to lay them out for you."

"Swing left here!" I shouted towards Alfred who quickly turned, narrowly missing another hit from a Chitauri alien. "And be ready to fire, Stark is handing some to us," I said as Alfred flew dangerously in between a couple of buildings.

"Aye Aye Samantha." Alfred snickered as he prepared the joystick for the aliens. Ahead of us, we saw Stark quickly rush by, followed by a couple dozen aliens and Alfred opened fire. "Hahahaha take this alien freaks! You don't mess with Alfred Kirkland and live! Hahahahaha!" Alfred laughed as he turned right to avoid the building in front and continued to fire at the aliens, heading towards Stark Tower.

"Is he always like this?" I heard Steve ask Agent Romanoff who chuckled.

"You should have seen him on his first mission." After firing our way towards Stark Tower, Alfred steadied himself as he saw Loki and Thor fighting on the balcony.

"Fire in the hole" Alfred said as he pointed the gun towards the two demi-gods and began firing. Standing up, I could see Loki quickly throwing Thor out of his way and pointed his spear at us.

"Oh shit." I muttered as Loki fired the spear, sending the blue jet of light straight at us.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." Alfred shouted as he stopped firing and tried to dodge the attack but it was too late, the light had shot straight at one of the jet's turbines and we quickly began descending. I cried out in surprise as the jet began spiraling down out of control and without anything to hold onto I flew backwards. Before I could hit the wall though, a pair of strong arms caught me and pulled me towards a chest.

"Hold on!" Steve yelled as he used one arm to hold onto me and the other grabbed onto something else. Without protesting, I quickly held onto Steve tightly as I saw Agent Romanoff quickly rush into the pilot seat and tried to help Alfred gain control of the jet.

"It's no use," He shouted to her, "The engine's gone and we're going to crash. Just hold on tightly to something everybody!" The jet shook violently as it hit a tower and I nearly lost my grip onto Steve. "Just a bit more!" Alfred yelled pulling on the steering as hard as he could to try and control the landing.

"Fuck." I muttered as I saw the ground quickly coming towards us and I held onto Steve tighter than ever as the jet violently landed on the concrete floor, sending the both of us flying in the back. I could see Agent Barton holding tightly onto a handrail as he too tried to hold on as Alfred landed the jet. We continued to skid across the concrete floor until we bumped into a steel building.

"Well…that was fun." Alfred chuckled as he took off his helmet and his seat belt before turning around to see us. "Everyone alive?"

"If that's your flying skills, then I don't want to see your driving skills." I groaned as I stood up, during the landing I had lost my grip on Steve and went flying. Luckily I landed in the parachute area so it wasn't that bad.

"Come on," Steve said as he helped me up and passed me by board. "We have work to do."

"Right." We all said as we quickly got our gears and followed Steve as he opened the hatch.

"Hey hold on, I'm coming with you." Alfred said as he removed his pilot gear and took out a bullet proof vest from one of the compartments in the jet and a handgun.

"Alfred, you're seriously not thinking—"

"It's alright Samantha," Agent Romanoff said placing a hand on my shoulder. "He's more than capable of taking care of himself. That's why he's in SHIELD." I looked at Alfred one more time, before sighing.

"You'll be explaining to Arthur if you get hurt then Alfred." I said as I patted his shoulder as he jogged out of the hatch. "I don't want to deal with Arthur if he blows a fuse." I chuckled.

"Ugh, that's not a talk I'm looking forward to." Alfred sighed before we ran out of the jet and onto the streets of Manhattan. As we looked around, the streets were in ruins; cars were thrown over, fires scattered across the streets, buildings partially collapsed, people were running around trying to find safety, and the Chitauri flew above us, creating more havoc.

"We have to get back up there." Steve said as we ran through the streets, taking cover behind overturned cars, pointing to Stark Tower. However, as we took a couple more steps, a loud groaning noise came from the portal above, stopping us in our tracks.

"That doesn't sound good." I muttered as the five of us came to a halt and stared up at the portal to see what was emerging. Seconds later, a huge flying alien looking turtle snake—it was the only way I could describe it really—roared as it escaped through the portal and headed down towards the streets; more specifically us. As it came near ground level, the hundred foot creature flew right above us releasing more of the Chitauri into the buildings next to us. However, some started to make their way down the buildings and it was only a matter of time before they came onto the streets.

"Stark are you seeing this?" Steve asked Stark who was still flying around Manhattan trying to hold off the alien army from above.

"I'm seeing…still working on believing though." Stark's voice echoed in my ear. "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?" I asked but Stark sighed.

"Just keep me posted."

"Do you need any help with that thing?" I asked taking out my board before throwing it in mid air and jumping on it.

"Nah, I think I have this covered…I think." I heard Stark mutter.

"Well then, I'll just help you with the other Chitarui then." I said as I flew above Steve, Romanoff, Barton, and Alfred. "Call me if you need me." I said before speeding away from the group.

"Be careful Peggy!" Steve said into the earpiece as I turned a corner into a group of Chitauri.

"Don't worry." I growled out as began manipulating the wind around me, creating a separate wind source to kill the aliens with. "I will be." With a grunt, I swung both my arm forward, sending sharp discs of wind towards the aliens, slicing them in two. "Let the games begin." I grinned as I began flying around Manhattan and sliced up as many aliens as I could.

"Peggy! Loki is heading your way!" I heard Steve shout into my earpiece a few minutes after I had left the group. I looked up after taking down a couple of Aliens to see that Loki had gotten a ride on one of the Chitarui ships and was destroying the streets in front of him looking rather smug at his work.

"Got it." I growled as I turned my board around and shot straight towards him. With several grunts I shot multiple wind discs at the Chitauri. While several went down, the one holding Loki effortlessly dodged them all and headed straight towards me. "Fuck." I grumbled as I began flying in reverse still trying to take Loki out, all the while dodging his attacks.

"Why bother fighting?" I heard him say as the alien flying ship shot several blue jets of light, "Your fighting is a futile attempt to stop for what will become the inevitable." I snarled angrily as I continued to fire wind discs at his ride and even threw a couple of compressed air bullets.

"I fight because it's wrong to fucking take away people's freedom away. You have no right to do so and I will fight you to the death to make sure that you never succeed. That's a damn promise" I jumped off my board for a moment to throw a couple of blue fire balls at Loki who's driver dodged effortlessly. That alien was pissing me off!

"And what makes you so sure that you'll succeed?" Loki smirked.

"Because, I know that I'll succeed especially since I want no one to suffer as I did!" I shouted as I continued my attack on Loki all the while still flying backwards.

"Peggy, what's wrong?" Steve's voice frantically asked into the earpiece.

"Loki just pissing me off that's all." I growled as I jumped off my board to avoid an incoming attack, "Loki's not a very easy person to take out, especially when he's on those things, I'll give you that." I grunted as I landed back on my board and turned myself around and focused on trying to escape. I cried out a bit as Loki managed to hit my board and nearly threw me off balance. "HEY WATCH IT YOU MOTHER FUCKER! ARTHUR GAVE THIS BOARD AS A PRESENT!" I yelled as I turned around, fueled by anger and quickly shot several wind discs at him before sending out a large blast of wind. While Loki's Chitauri pilot did maneuver away from the discs, they couldn't dodge the wind blast and were sent flying. "Let's see how you—"

"Um Samantha, you might want to move out of the way." I heard Stark in my earpiece as I saw him fly past me. While I looked at his retreating figure with confusion, Loki took this time to escape. Bastard.

"What do you—" A loud roar vibrated behind me and as I turned around I saw the huge flying alien that exited the portal earlier speeding towards me. My eyes widen in shock before I turned my board to follow Stark's path. "Why did you bring it this way!" I shouted to Stark as I booked it and began catching up the Iron warrior looking back occasionally to see of it was gaining on us.

"Because," Stark said as he sharply turned a corner—and I followed suit—"I'm bringing the party to them." As I looked down I saw that our group had grown in size; Thor had now joined us, as well as Dr. Banner. However, I didn't think that even though our group had grown, it was the best decision to bring that monster to them. Especially as I saw the state Alfred was in. He was panting a bit heavily, he had blood stains on his jacket as well on his forehead, and it seems he was on his last legs. He wasn't in any shape to take on a monster like this. However, even with all his injuries, Alfred just grinned at me as both of us came closer to the group.

"I don't see how that's a party." Agent Romanoff said into our earpiece and I couldn't agree more. I would not want this at a party or anywhere near me for that matter. The both of us quickly lowered in altitude and rejoined the group, waiting for the monster to reach us. Dr. Banner slowly began walking towards the monster before Steve interrupted him.

"Dr. Banner, now might be a good time for you to get angry." Dr. Banner smiled at him continuing to walk towards the monster.

"That's my secret Captain." He said as the monster began flying closer to us. "I'm always angry," As he turned to face the monster, his body began shifting; his muscles began growing bigger—ripping his purple dress shirt in the process—his skin turned green, and his height grew as well. With a mighty roar, Dr. Banner quickly transformed into the Hulk at the last second and punched the alien nearly stopping it dead in its tracks. However, since it didn't stop completely, it began flipping over the Hulk and his back side soon started crashing down on us.

"Everyone down!" I yelled as I jumped down from my board, quickly positioned myself into a sturdy fighting stance and as fast as I could I brought up compressed earth, that was just as strong if not stronger than concrete, blasting away the concrete floor and used it to protect us as Stark blasted at the creature. The force of the blast would have sent the wall crumbling if it wasn't for the fact that I quickly brought up a set of compressed earth pillars to reinforce the wall. Once the blast faded away, and the monster was blown to bits, I slowly brought the wall down and looked around to see if anyone was hurt.

"Dude, that was awesome!" I heard Alfred laugh as he dusted himself off. "You have to come over for Christmas now, you just have to." I smiled as the rest of the group rejoined and formed a small circle around us preparing ourselves for a battle.

"We'll see." I said producing fireballs in my hands, ready to throw them at a moment's notice at the aliens, feeling rather victorious at the moment. However, our small victory ended as we noticed two more giant flying alien ships exiting the portal, followed by more aliens. I unconsciously extinguished my fire as I saw the sheer number of aliens flying down; maybe this wasn't going to be that easy.

"Guys." Agent Romanoff began as she too noticed our unwanted guests.

"Call it Captain." Stark said as he powered up his suit again and began flying off the ground.

"Alright listen up. Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton," Steve said as he pointed to the archer, "I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, Peggy, you guys got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks, you turn it back or you turn it into ash." I smirked as I threw my board up into the air, jumped on it, and steadied myself as I waited for Stark.

"Got it."

"Care to give me a lift?" Barton asked and I lowered myself down so he could jump on.

"Sure, just hold on." I said as I felt him hold onto my shoulder as I lifted off, Stark following me. As I shot myself up into the air I could feel Agent Barton's grip on my shoulder tighten. I chuckled at his nervousness. "Don't worry, I won't let you drop." But to mess with him just a little, I dropped a couple of feet before gaining control again.

"What the fuck! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" He shouted and I laughed.

"Relax, I have it under control. I was just messing with you." I chuckled as I continued to fly upwards towards the buildings that have yet to be demolished by the aliens. I heard him mumble something incoherent before he tapped on my shoulder.

"Right here, this should be a good spot." Barton yelled into my ear as we reached the rooftop of one of the higher buildings in Manhattan. Quickly, I scooted closer to the edge of the roof and Barton jumped safely off my board and saluted me as I quickly sped off to help Stark fight off the flying Aliens.

"You take that side and I'll take this side?" I asked as we reached a group of a couple dozen aliens splitting as they neared a building.

"You're on. The person who gets the most Chitauri wins." Stark said as he flew off and began firing off at the aliens.

"Win what!" I shouted back before sending more wind discs at the aliens, cutting down their numbers quickly.

"Um, I'll think of something later." I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see it and I continued to slice the aliens as I came across them. Swerving around buildings, I quickly disposed any aliens I came across and made sure that none of the civilian population was caught in the crossfire. There were a few close encounters with the aliens, but with Barton giving me coordinates of aliens, none of them got severally hurt. However, as the fight began dragging on, I slowly began losing my control over my wind as I constantly kept myself afloat and using the wind as a weapon.

"Samantha, Samantha can you read me?" I heard Arthur's voice into my ear piece.

"Arthur? I'm a bit busy at the moment. Trying to slice some aliens up." I grunted as I momentarily lost control over my board and dropped several feet before I gained back my focus. "Trying to stay afloat and use wind as a weapon isn't going as great as I thought it would be."

"Great—I mean not great. But luckily for you, I tinkered with your board—"

"Again? When do you find the time?" I asked as I jumped over a Chitarui hover craft—taking it out in the processes—and shot fireballs at the other Chitarui in the air before I landed back on my board and continued using wind techniques. "So what did you do to my board?"

"Well, since you had a bit of trouble using different powers while you're flying on your board, I had design an auto pilot on the board." Arthur said smugly.

"Wait auto pilot?" I asked as I spun on my board to avoid several Chitarui blasts before sending out whips of wind at them. "Why didn't you tell me before!" I laughed as I chased the remaining Chitarui who escaped my previous wrath. "How do I activate it?"

"See that circular pattern on the right side of your board? Step on that once and you'll activate the auto pilot." I looked down at my board and indeed saw the pattern Arthur had described and with a bit of hesitation, I stepped on the pattern. The board glowed light blue for a moment before the fan turbine suddenly began spinning on its own without the help of my wind. Slowly I stopped circulating the wind around the turbine and to my happiness, I still floated just fine.

"Well, the board seems to be working normally, does the other pattern do something?" I asked as produced flames in my hands and shot them towards the Chitarui.

"The other pattern activates the jet booster, it only works once though." Arthur chuckled in my earpiece.

"Can I say I love you? Seriously, you're like a fairy godfather or something of that sort." I smiled as I lowered myself down to the streets and took out a fire hydrant. As the water spew out, I took a generous amount of the water and surrounded my arms with it and began shooting the Chitarui with powerful jets of water that effectively cut the Chitarui as the wind disc did. Arthur just chuckled.

"Just make sure you come back alright." I laughed quietly to myself.

"I will. I need to see you burst a vein when you yell at Alfred."

"That boy." Arthur sighed, "He's going to be the death of me."

"Samantha, you have a couple coming behind you." I heard Barton's voice in my earpiece. I looked back behind me and the number of Chitarui aliens increased and my water supply had run out. Looks like I'll have to resort to fire now.

"Alright time for some invasive maneuver." I muttered as I quickly made a sharp right turn at a building, causing at least a third of them to crash. The rest managed to dodge the building and stilled followed me. "Now to heat things up." I smirked as I turned around and created blue fireballs in my hand. The Chitarui still came towards me, not knowing their fate until I threw the balls of fire at them. As they traveled through the air, the balls of fire grew in size and in less than five seconds, the fire engulfed the entire Chitaruis that were after me, sending ashes down onto the streets below.

"Remind me to never get you angry." I heard Clint mutter.

"Don't worry, I don't think you will." I chuckled as I continued to fly through the city and burned, sliced, and struck any Chitarui aliens I came across. "This is probably the most fun I had in years!" I laughed as I passed Stark shooting some Chitarui aliens and I burned a Chitarui behind Stark before it could get to him.

"Thanks." Stark muttered before firing his pulser ray behind me, taking out another Chitarui alien. "Now, we're even."

"I still think I got more than you did." I smirked beneath my mask as I flew off to stop several more Chitarui.

"We'll see about that."

* * *

_**Third POV**_

Arthur sighed as he heard Samantha's remark and couldn't help but chuckle. She had come a long way since he first met her, she seemed more open but then again…it's probably the adrenaline that was talking. She seemed to live off that and he couldn't blame her, after all, all she knew was how to fight and be alert at all times. Samantha couldn't possibly have a normal life, not after what she's been through.

"Arthur, what's their status?" Director Fury asked the British agent. Arthur coughed to clear his throat before speaking.

"As of now, Samantha and the team are working on containing the aliens as we speak sir. Dr. Banner and Thor have joined the fight and it looks promising but…"

"But?"

"Unless they have some way to close the portal they may not last that long." Arthur sighed as he wiped some blood off his forehead. He took a bit of a beating when mind controlled Agent Barton invaded the ship since he was a bit rusty. At least he wasn't completely useless, but he really should consider going to the gym more often, living off tea and biscuits wasn't really cutting it. And the alcohol didn't help much either.

"That's what I was afraid of." Fury sighed as he walked to the controls of the Helicarrier. "Do you think there's a way to close it?"

"No idea comes to mind sir. Stark or Dr. Banner would probably have more of a chance of finding a way to close the portal, although I think Dr. Banner is out of the picture for now since Hulk is too busy smashing the aliens."

"Director Fury," Agent Hill said coming up to the both of them, "The council is on the line." Arthur scowled at the mention of the Council. Probably the only reason he disliked them was because they forced him back on duty.

"What do they want now." Fury growled as the screen began showing the five council members. Arthur tuned out for the first part of the conversation, while he knew it was rude, he honestly didn't care. He didn't like these people so he left it to Fury to deal with them. However, when he heard nuclear bomb coming from the screen did Arthur tune back into the conversation.

"Director Fury, the council has made a decision—"

"I recognize the council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid ass decision, I've elected to ignore it." Fury nearly growled out.

"Director," one of the male councilmen began, "You're closer than any of our subs, you scramble that jet—"

"Are you mad?!" Arthur shouted as he couldn't contain his anger towards the council and stepped into view, surprising Fury and the council. "You can't just send a nuclear missile at a civilian population! The Avengers can contain—"

"Agent Kirkland we are not asking your opinion about this matter—"

"Agent Kirkland." Director Fury said in a warning tone and Arthur reluctantly began stepping away from the screens.

"Sorry," Arthur muttered as Fury continued to talk to the council, but at least the director shared his opinion about the nuclear strike.

_I just don't want them to send the missile not when Alfred and Samantha are there._ Arthur thought as he clenched his fist in frustration. It was almost like five years ago, he was basically powerless to help the ones he cared about. He hoped that the council would at least listen to Fury on this, but he didn't know that the council had nearly enough of Fury's behavior and this was the last straw. Had he known, well he would have made extra precautions to make sure none of the nuclear missile on the ship exited.

"Agent Kirkland?" Fury's voice rang out interrupting Arthur's thoughts, "Mind telling me what was that little outburst about?"

"Sorry, it's just…my family's down there and—"

"You don't want to lose the remaining family you have correct?" Arthur looked away, feeling weak for once.

"I know they can stop the blasted Chitarui aliens, all they need is time."

"And time they will get Arthur," Fury said placing a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "We just have to help them in whatever way we can."

"Sir," Agent Hill suddenly said as alarms began going off on the computers, "We have a bird in motion." Arthur's eyes widen as he rushed to the computer and saw that a jet carrying one of the nuclear missiles SHIELD had, starting to take off.

"No, no, no, NO!" Arthur shouted as he slammed his fist down on the monitor and quickly tried to shut the doors of the jet hanger to keep the jet in. "Who the bloody hell is flying that damn thing!" He shouted as his fingers furiously typed away on the keyboard to override the system. "What the…there's two of them!"

"Shut them down," Agent Hill said also trying to close the hangers on the jets, "They are not authorized to take off."

"Obviously woman!" Arthur snapped, "Director Fury, where—what the—he's gone."

"He's on deck Agent Kirkland." Hill answered as the security cameras came on screen where Director Fury ran out on deck with a bazooka gun in his arms.

"You better have bloody good aim then Fury." Arthur muttered as he gave up on closing the doors to the jet hangers seeing as both jets escaped. "Please…please get the right one." Arthur muttered as he watched the security feed with anxiety. Fury managed to hit the first get coming off the runway but he couldn't get a hit on the other jet as it sped right by him.

"Damn it all!" Arthur shouted kicking the table the computer screen was sitting on before taking out his phone, pressed some buttons to make the call private—he didn't want the rest of the team to freak out—and spoke into his mic to contact Samantha. If anyone could help them, Samantha probably could.

"Samantha, we have a missile coming towards the city."

* * *

_**Samantha/Peggy/M's POV**_

"Samantha, we have a missile coming towards the city." Arthur voice rang out in my earpiece as I was busy trying to break out of the circle of Chitarui aliens. I grunted as I sent several wind discs at the aliens before I shot balls of fire towards the others.

"Wait what? A missile? Don't tell me it's a nuke please don't tell me it's a nuke—"

"I hate to disappoint you but it is." I could hear Arthur beginning to stress out over the earpiece and I knew it was serious.

"How long until it reaches the city?" I asked as I dropped several feet on purpose to avoid a head on collision between two Chitarui aliens. I had been surrounded by several Chitauri's and I was working on escaping. It seemed that the rest of the team was also having trouble and none of them could come to my aid so I was on my own. However, if Arthur was right then, I would have to do whatever I could to escape this trap I was in order to stop that nuke…if there was a way to stop it. How does one stop a nuclear missile anyways?

"Three minutes…possibly less." I grunted again as I quickly created an opening in the circle of Chitaruis with wind and sped off towards the direction of the harbor, where we came from and most likely the missile as well. Several Chitarui flew after me, determined not to let me escape.

"You sure love to make a woman hurry up don't you." I said as I continued to fire wind discs and fireballs at the Chitarui aliens behind me. "Besides what do you want me to do with the missile? I may be able to blow the nuke before it gets to the city, but I'm pretty sure the radiation will still harm the people in Manhattan as the radiation spreads throughout the harbor and sky."

"…I have an idea—"

"Well, what is it?!" I shouted as I blasted the remaining Chitarui off my tail leaving me home free to get the missile.

"Let me speak woman!" Arthur shouted before sighing slowly as if he was preparing to give a lecture or something of the sort. "If you can somehow manage to alternate the path of the missile into the portal then we might possibly not only save Manhattan from a nuclear attack, but also take out the rest of the Chitarui as well."

_Well….that could certainly work._ I thought as I continuously dodged buildings and Chitarui before a dreadful thought came to mind and I had to wince.

"Well…that's actually a really good idea…the only flaw…I think I might actually go through the portal in order to make sure the missile hits the mother ship and…" I didn't finish that thought as I flew as fast as I could towards the harbor where in the distance I could see a jet coming towards us.

"…and you may not survive." Arthur finished my thought softly. "I…I—" I took a deep breath before looking at the blue sky and smiled softly. If I was going to die then at least I would die as a free person and not a lab rat, which was a comforting thought.

"It's fine Arthur…I…I don't mind actually…And the more I think about it….the more I'm ok with it."

"Samantha, wait there could be another way, just let me think—"

"There's not much time to think about it Arthur. This is the only shot we have at save Manhattan…saving the world from Loki's rule. If this…if this is what I have to do to save everyone from feeling the same feelings I felt when I had no freedom…then I think it's worth it. Sure I might not be able to kick Loki's ass personally for being a fucking asshole, but I can leave that to the Avengers. All I need to do is give them time."

"Samantha—"

"Arthur, it's my decision!" I shouted quickly shutting up the SHIELD agent. "I mean…I really wasn't planning on dying soon especially not today, but I think I'll be fine. You guys have given me such great memories…and…" I glared hard at the jet as it released the missile before flying off, leaving the missile to go it's course. "That's all I could ever ask for. Just…don't tell the others…especially Steve…please?" I could hear Arthur sighing deeply before answering me in a soft voice.

"Very well…I'll do whatever I can to help." I smiled softly before speeding off towards the missile, with a new goal in mind. Strange, I know years ago if I was faced with a similar problem I would have escaped without trying to help. I would have just focused on saving myself; you know survival of the fittest? I probably wouldn't have even considered using my powers to help anyone. Somehow, these people have changed me, not totally but enough to make me rethink about things. I wanted to help others and if there's a chance they could get hurt, it somehow made me more determined to make sure no harm came to them.

"Thanks—"

"—Anyone copy?" I heard Agent Romanoff's voice in my earpiece cutting me off from Arthur, "I can shut down the portal."

"Do it—"

"Wait not yet!" I shouted along with Stark as I began noticing his figure racing towards the missile as well. What was he doing here? Shouldn't he be helping the avengers take down the Chitarui?

"Peggy, Stark these things are still—"

"There's a missile heading straight for Manhattan Steve." I shouted as Stark finally caught up. "And I know where to put it. Close it when I tell you to!"

"You?" Stark said as the both of us reached the missile. We each took a side—Stark on the upper part of the missile and I on the lower, so it looked like I was carrying this all on my back—and began steering it off course and straight towards the portal. "You don't have to do this Samantha—"

"Stark save it!" I shouted as I tried to shake him off the missile but he wasn't letting go. "And get off, there's no reason why you should be risking your life—"

"I could say the same to you." Stark replied as he too tried to get me off the missile. "Samantha, you still have so much left to live for, think about your friends. What about Steve?" I said nothing as we continued to fly through the city of Manhattan.

"Arthur?" I asked quietly hoping that Stark wouldn't hear.

"Yes Samantha?" Arthur asked gravely, as if he knew my intentions.

"How much power does Stark have left in his suit?" There was a moment of silence before Arthur spoke up again.

"He'll have enough power to make the trip up to the portal, but not enough to come back."

_More reason to stop him from doing something reckless. _I thought as I spared a glance at Stark to see his battle worn out suit. Parts of the suits were partially crushed, burned, or fried, in other words it didn't seem like it would last any longer. Not that I was any better. My unprotected legs suffered several gashes, grim covered a majority of my body, and blood seeped through the multiple scratches on my forehead and legs. It was only because of the Dragon Skin that I was able to endure this long otherwise I think I would have passed out from the several hits I took from the Chitarui aliens. I shook my head to clear up my thoughts and asked Arthur another favor.

"Can you hack into his suit and shut down the power?" I asked as we got closer to the portal.

"Samantha—"

"We don't need more lives to be lost." I nearly shouted, "He has more to live for than me, he has more people who care about him and would be deeply hurt if he died. So Arthur can you please shut off his power." Arthur sighed before he answered me.

"Yes, I can. Shutting his power systems now."

"Thank you." I muttered closing my eyes before I pressed the auto pilot button on my board again so that it would run on sorely wind.

"Thank you for what?" Stark asked before his suit suddenly started to stutter. "No, no, no not now!"

"It's alright Stark." I said softly before twisting him off the missile and forced him to let go. However, I threw my board towards Stark as he began falling down from the sky so he wouldn't crash land. "The board has enough air to land on one of the nearby rooftops!" I shouted into my mic as I began spinning clockwise, creating a wind tunnel that would go up to the portal. "Aim for one otherwise you'll become flat as a pancake."

"Samantha!" Stark shouted as he grabbed the board and barely made it to one of the nearby rooftops, "Don't do this!"

"Peggy! What are you doing?!" Steve shouted and I couldn't help, but give a sad smile as I neared the portal.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm taking the missile to the mother ship."

"But you'll die! You don't have protective armor to protect you from the elements of space!" Stark shouted.

"Then I'll die protecting the people I care about." I whispered softly as the portal quickly came closer and closer. "Thank you…for the memories I guess and making my outside experience memorable. And do me a favor, kick Loki's ass for me." And as the portal was just a couple feet away I closed my eyes and braced myself as I sped through the portal and into outer space.

_It's cold_ my first thoughts were as I made it to the other side of the portal before opening my eyes to see where I was. _And pitch black_. As I flew farther into space it became increasingly difficult to breathe as I couldn't breathe any oxygen, the cold began seeping through the Dragon Skin and hypothermia began setting in. I struggled to keep the darkness that was threatening to take over at bay, but I knew it would be a futile attempt, after all I knew I was going to die here.

_No, I have to make sure this missile gets to the ship_ I shivered violently as I tried to press forward when I saw the ship several thousand miles away. _I have too…I have too…cold…really….cold_ I thought sleepily as I could no longer hold onto the missile and let it go, smiling weakly as I saw it go straight towards the mother ship.

_Mom….Dad….I'm…..coming….to….see….you….guys….I'm…..coming…..home…._With that last thought, I closed my eyes and welcomed the darkness as it swallowed me whole.

* * *

_**Third POV**_

"Samantha!" Alfred yelled as he saw Samantha/Peggy fly towards the portal with the missile. "Damn it, Samantha don't do it! Do something!" He shouted at the famous Super Soldier who stared at Samantha's retreating figure with shock.

"I…it's her decision…." Steve whispered weakly still watching the elemental user as she disappeared into the portal with high chances of not returning.

"No…she can't…she'll come back right?" Alfred said suddenly sounding much younger than he looked, as he worried for the wellbeing of his friend. "She'll come back. She's strong after all. She has to make it back…"

"I hope she does." Alfred heard Steve mutter before he turned his attention towards the portal and waited for Samantha/Peggy to appear. Seconds passed excruciating slow for the Avengers members as they waited for the unexpected member of their group to come back from space. Despite not being formally asked to join the group, she had helped them when she wasn't even asked to and they had unconsciously placed her in their group of superheroes However, as the seconds ticked by, it seemed unlikely that she would ever return to Earth.

"Captain…" Agent Romanoff called to the Soldier in her earpiece, "The portal…" As Alfred looked up, he could see the nuclear explosion go off and headed towards their way; if they didn't close the portal soon, then it could be a possibility that the harmful radiation would make it pass the portal and into Manhattan. Alfred quickly looked at the Captain to see what his verdict was and judging by his pain filled face, it wasn't good.

"Close the portal." Alfred tore his eyes away from the portal, closing them to try and stop the tears that were threatening to spill. He couldn't bear to see the portal close, especially when Samantha/Peggy was still on the other side of it. Steve momentarily took his eyes away from the portal before it closed, when he noticed a figure starting to fall. Once the portal closed permanently, Steve could now see the female figure clearly as Samantha/Peggy came back to Earth.

"Son of a Gun." Steve smiled happily as Alfred turned around and looked at the sky.

"She did! She did it!" Alfred shouted happily, jumping up and down before Thor frowned at the falling figure.

"She's not slowing down!" Alfred's shouts of joy stopped immediately as the Norse God began swinging his hammer quickly, ready to take off and catch Samantha/Peggy before a red metallic figure came from a nearby rooftop and sped quickly towards the falling comrade.

"I got her." Stark's voice rang in the captain's ear as the billionaire caught Samantha bridal style and slowly began descending to the ground, his engine stuttering on and off as he was slowly losing power.

"Peggy/Samantha!" Steve and Alfred shouted as they, along with Thor, raced towards their fallen comrade who looked like she could be sleeping if it wasn't for the fact that she wasn't breathing. Stark carefully placed her onto the floor before he took of his Iron Man mask off.

"Damn it all, damn it all!" Stark shouted as Steve kneeled beside Samantha/Peggy and looked sadly at her sleeping face, her lips blue from the cold exposure, before touching her cheek softly. He nearly flinched as he felt the coldness underneath his gloves.

"Samantha…" Alfred muttered not disturbed as Hulk jumped down beside them to see his fallen comrade. "But you promised…you'd come over for Christmas…." Seconds passed by in silence as the five of them mourned the loss of Samantha/Peggy before Hulk gave out a thunderous roar that suddenly woke up the supposedly dead girl. She gasped out in surprise, taking deep breaths of oxygen before her eyes rushed around her surroundings.

"Wha—where—who—Steve?"

* * *

Being dead…well there wasn't really any way to describe it. To me it felt as if I could finally relax, let all my worries just slip away and just sleep without feeling tense for once. Being in a laboratory for years, I could never really relax, there was always something that made me tense whether it be a chemical testing, physical testing or just plain fighting, I could never relax. And when I escaped, I become even tenser; I had to constantly be on the lookout to see if any of the scientists had caught my trail. If they did, I quickly moved out of the city and into another where the process started over again. It felt nice…but it was lonely. I didn't see my mother or my father and I was just floating in the sea of darkness without any sense of direction. I kind of wanted to go back, I wanted to see Arthur and surprisingly Steve again, I wanted to see their faces, but I knew it was just a dream. I was dead…right?

"No, you're not dead, just in between life and death at the moment. You get to choose if you want to move on or go back to living." A childish voice said as the sea of darkness suddenly vanished and I was standing in a white room with two doors facing me. In between the doors stood a girl with shoulder length black hair wearing a white dress and looked at me with innocent brown eyes.

"Um…" I looked around in confusion before I looked back at the girl. "Who are you? And what do you mean I get to choose?" The girl giggled happily as she twirled on her feet before smiling at me.

"I'm you, when I was four years old! And that's what I mean; you get to choose which path you want to take. You can either take the painless path and be with Mommy again and see Samantha, or you can choose the not so guarantee pain free path but you get to be back with your friends and live to find Daddy." The girl laughed as she began fading away.

"Wait!" I shouted running towards her now transparent figure, "What do you mean find my father, isn't he dead! And how are you me? And how do I know which door open what? You haven't really answered any of my questions just yet!"

"You already know the answer," the girl said as her face began disappearing, "You just have to choose to act on it." And with that, she disappeared, leaving me alone in the white room. I groaned in frustration, the girl didn't help me at all, if anything she made things more confusing.

"But…how do I know which door leads to where?" I muttered to myself as I stared at the two doors in front of me. "They look exactly the fucking same…" sighing, I decided to sit down and stare at the doors, trying to figure out the one I was going to take.

_The girl said one would lead me my mother which probably means I'll die. The upside, I get to be with my mother and see Samantha again and I will no longer have to worry about capture. Downside…I die, I don't see Arthur or Steve, and I die. Now the other door means I get to live. Upside, I get to live, see Arthur and Steve, possibly become closer to the Avengers and become a family, get to see the world, and I live. Downside, I will constantly still be worrying about capture, I don't get to be with mom or see Samantha, and…there's the possibility of getting hurt emotionally if my new….friends get hurt or physically if I get captured. There's no win-win situation in this is there?_ I sighed as I ran my hand through my hair.

"I think….I think I still want to live though." I mumbled to myself, "Even though there's a possibility that…I could get hurt or get captured….I still want to see the faces of the people I care about." Suddenly the door on the left disappeared and the one on the right remained opening slowly. Quickly I got up, and walked slowly towards the door. "Well that was a bit easy…"

"Take care," The girl's voice echoed in the room, "I don't want to see you here back so soon."

"But I want to ask you something before I leave," I said stopping right in front of the door where I could see Stark laying by body down on the floor. It was a bit weird to see your life in a third perspective, especially when your body is dead. "When you said I could find my father, you meant that he was still alive. How?"

"That's something you already know," the girl said sadly as if it was a bad thing, "You've just chosen to ignore the truth this whole time. It's now your choice if you want to remember the truth and find Daddy" Before I could ask the voice another question, a powerful gust of wind rushed towards me and pushed me roughly through the door. "Live your life to the fullest alright? And try to find Daddy; I know he's there even if you can't see him." The girl shouted before the door closed on me and I was rushing towards my body at a rapid speed. I could see that Steve, Stark, Alfred, and the Hulk stood around my body looking mournfully before Hulk gave out a mighty roar. At that precise moment, I had re-entered by body and quickly gasped out for air.

"Wha—where—who—Steve?" I gasped trying to pump my heart…well body with blood. However, I quickly noticed that my body was violently shaking and I couldn't really feel any parts of my body, especially my fingertips and legs. The parts covered by the Dragon Skin weren't really 'I can't feel that part of the body' cold, but I was still shivering.

"Peggy!" Steve cried out, smiling in happiness as the rest of the members sighed in relief, well the Hulk roared out…most likely in happiness as well. "You're alive!"

"C-cold." I stuttered, despite my brain saying, 'yeah, I'm alive'.

"Yeah, going into outer space without a protective suit can do that to you." Stark remarked sounding a bit sarcastic, but he still gave me a small smile.

"S-shut—u-u-up." I stuttered once again as I tried to warm myself up.

"We need to get you warm." Steve said as he lifted me into his arms bridal style and I couldn't help but cling to him, his body heat inviting me to practically cuddle him.

"Here" Thor's voice boomed as I felt something warm drape over my shivering form and immediately my body began warming up. "This should help her warm up until she is no longer shivering." I clutched onto the red cloth—I was beginning to suspect that it was his cape—tightly as I can before my eyes began drooping. I was beginning to get warmer by the second which was making me feel very sleepy rather quickly.

"Thanks," I muttered closing me eyes, my shivering being reduced to just small tremors, "I…owe…you…"

"Just sleep Peggy," I heard Steve's voice become muffled as sleep began taking over me. And for once…I slept peacefully.

* * *

**And that's a wrap. Thank you for reading this far and thanks for the reviews, it really means a lot to me. But please tell me how I'm doing, is it good, bad, needs some work, or I need to leave something out? Any criticism is helpful. I guess I'm still doing the whole "the 15****th**** reviewer gets a part in the chapter" thing since the reviews still haven't reached to 15 yet. Thanks to everyone who is reading this!**

**-Midnightmich**


	5. Hidden Betrayal

The Unexpected

**Sorry for the long delay, I seriously had this chapter completely written out except for a small part. That small transition took so much time to write and well by the time I had inspiration for it, well AP testing began and well school comes before fanfition sadly. I'm also sorry if it's really crappy quality. I just wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible. Anyways, thank you for reviewing/favoriting/alerting my story! It really does mean so much to me! And special thanks to ****MisLG**** for helping me plan out this chapter!**

**Thanks for reviewing:**

**Niki Lane**

**I-am-Mia-Daughter-of-Hecate**

**MisLG**

**Lollypops101**

**ClarissaJackson**

**Guest: ****I'll try to make the changes to that soon. I just wanted to post this chapter up as soon as possible.**

**Set pre-Avengers, Avengers, and post-Avengers.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avengers, Captain America or the other superheroes in Avengers. Only my OC who has yet to have a permanent name.**

**Talking:** Well, that was a bit unexpected.

**Thoughts:**_ This can't get any worse right?_

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Here" Thor's voice boomed as I felt something warm drape over my shivering form and immediately my body began warming up. "This should help her fight the cold until she is no longer shivering." I clutched onto the red cloth—I was beginning to suspect that it was his cape—tightly as I could before my eyes began drooping. I was getting warmer by the second, which was making me feel very sleepy rather quickly._

"_Thanks," I muttered closing me eyes, my shivering being reduced to just small tremors, "I…owe…you…"_

"_Just sleep Peggy," I heard Steve's voice become muffled as I gave in to the exhaustion. And for once…I slept peacefully._

* * *

_**Peggy/Samantha/M's POV**_

Warmth. That's the first thing I felt as I slowly began regaining consciousness. My lips formed a small smile as I sighed and snuggled deeper into the warm cocoon. I hadn't felt this safe since I was four; it was comforting to feel it again after so many years.

_Such a warm bed. _I thought, sighing again in contentment as I wrapped the sheets around me tighter. For a while, I let myself bask in the feeling before I began to register my surroundings.

_These blankets feel very silky and really, really warm and the bed feels as if it's taking in the shape of my curled up body and molding around it. And the pillow, it feels so soft and—wait, pillows, blankets…bed? Where the fuck am I?_ I suddenly thought, opening my eyes and sitting up abruptly, causing my head to spin for a moment. As my eyes scanned the simple modern room, I took in the light green walls, the expensive-looking furniture, and lastly my ever so comfortable bed which had pillows as soft as clouds.

"What the…where the hell am I?" I asked to myself as I threw off my covers and stood up.

"You are currently inside Mr. Starks Tower, forty-fourth floor, room B, Miss Samantha. Shall I alert the others that you're—"

"Who the—where are you!" I cried, spinning around trying to find the source of the voice. I searched the room quickly but found no one. "Maybe I was just hearing things—"

"My name is Jarvis, an AI Mr. Stark created. I am at your service." The disembodied British voice said, nearly scaring me witless.

"Why can't I see you?" I asked as calmly as I could manage, still failing to find it's source of origin.

"I am not human Miss Samantha. I am merely an Artificial Intelligence that controls nearly all electrical devices in Stark Tower. Would you like me to send someone with some breakfast?"

"Wait hold on, how did I even get here?" I asked walking to the middle of the room still trying to find a way to look at the um…Jarvis.

"Mr. Rogers took you here after S.H.I.E.L.D made sure you were in no danger of hypothermia. He, along with the rest of the Avengers are in the main room having breakfast."

"So um…can I have some breakfast then?"

"Certainly." Jarvis replied as the door to my room opened. "Take the hallway on your left and take the elevator to the floor above yours and you'll find yourself in the common room."

"Um…thanks." I muttered as I walked out of my room and into the hallway.

"Glad to be of service Miss Samantha." The AI responded before leaving me alone in the hallway.

"I'm never going to get used to that." I muttered as I reached the elevator. "I should have known Stark would have one of…of…whatever that thing is. Why would they even bring me here though?" I asked myself as I pushed the button to go up a floor. Once the elevator stopped, the doors slid open and I could hear various voices speaking amongst each other. As I turned a corner I saw the rest of the Avengers, along with Alfred, Arthur, and the woman I had seen at the club with Stark.

_Maybe I should come back later,_ I thought as I began turning around, _I mean I don't have to eat breakfast now—_

"Peggy!" Steve cried as he saw me, "You're awake!"

"Yeah, I am." I chuckled nervously as Arthur and Alfred quickly looked up.

"Samantha!" Alfred cried as he got up from his chair and quickly hugged me. "I'm glad you're alright!"

"It takes more than aliens to take me down Alfred." I chuckled as I ruffled his hair.

"Well then, space can certainly do some damage to you then huh." Arthur replied as he came up to me smiling. "Glad you're alright though. Nearly gave Steve and Alfred a heart attack when you came to us as cold as ice."

"Sorry." I nervously laughed as Alfred let go of me. "Didn't mean to—"

"Of course because you thought you could handle the elements of space." Stark spoke up. I gave him a small smile.

"Oh I'm sorry because going up to space with a suit that was losing power was such a better idea." Stark shut his mouth then as Mrs. Potts smack him in the back of the head with a newspaper. "Nice to see you're well." I chuckled as I got out of Alfred's hug. "All of you guys."

"Well considering it's been a couple of days since the battle, we've had some time to heal." Agent Romanoff smiled as she stood up, taking a sip from a mug. My eyes widened at her statement.

"Wait a couple of days? How long was I out?"

"Three days to be exact." Steve spoke up as he came up to me awkwardly standing there, probably deciding whether or not he should hug me as well. Deciding to help him out a bit, I went ahead and gave him a hug, startling him for a moment before he relaxed into it.

"Three days really?" I asked as I let go of Steve and turned to look at the other Avengers. "What did I miss?"

"Not much actually," Dr. Banner answered this time, looking extremely calm compared to the last time I had seen him. "We were actually discussing Loki's punishment."

"Which is a little too light if you ask me." Agent Barton muttered as he took a sip of his coffee, ignoring the pointed glare from the Thunder God.

"Oh, so…what is going to happen to him anyways? And what about the cube?" I asked, taking a slice of toast from Stark's plate—he protested but quickly shut up as Pepper gave him another slice—and thanked Steve for handing me a glass of orange juice before munching on my breakfast.

"Loki shall face Asgardian justice and we will take the cube with us as well." Thor answered as he crammed six waffles into his mouth…in one bite. "So it shall never fall into the wrong hands again." Thor replied with his mouth full.

"As long as he's not messing with us, then it's alright." I sighed as I gulped down the orange juice. "So when are you leaving?"

"We are leaving at midday." I looked up at the clock and saw it was about an hour until 12 O'clock before I noticed several bags lying near the entrance to the elevators.

"Hey who's moving in here?" I asked pointing to the bags.

"Not moving in but rather, moving on." Stark replied, rubbing his hands together. "You see, Samantha," I gave him a small glare, "Since Fury no longer has a need for us to be a team anymore, we're just going to go on with our lives. No point in trying to stay together as a team when nothing's going on right? Besides, I'm sure some of us are eager to get out of this tower." Stark's eyes landed on Arthur's, who scowled back.

"I would have left a long time ago Stark, if it wasn't for the fact Samantha was here."

"They've been at each other's throats since we stepped inside the building." Alfred whispered in my ear, as the two computer geniuses began arguing. "I don't think it's healthy for Arthur to be arguing so much, he already does that with his French co-worker at S.H.I.E.L.D.—"

"DON'T MAKE FUN OF MY EYEBROWS YOU—"

"See what I mean?" Alfred half chuckled, half sighed, as the rest of the Avengers continued to watch them argue before Pepper pulled Stark away, leaving Arthur glaring daggers at them both.

"Well how else was he supposed to deal with the jackasses at the club?" I laughed as I saw Arthur's red face.

"We should get going," Steve suddenly said silencing the rest of us. "It's about time to leave."

"Alright you heard capsicle," Stark sang as he clapped his hands together, "Take your bags and we'll meet each other at the garage where your cars are sitting next to my awesome cars."

"Fine let's get going."

* * *

"This whole mess…it's finally over isn't it?" I said as I rode in Arthur's car to our destination. "It's hard to believe we've did so much collateral damage. Are the people mad at us?"

"Some are." Arthur sighed as he turned right since the road before us was blocked off. "And some are actually very grateful."

"So grateful that they're actually dressing up as you guys." Alfred chuckled before handing me his smart phone where it was playing the news. My eyes widen in shock as the camera focused on a group of kids, where one specifically was wearing a similar outfit to mine and was riding a skate board.

"Is that supposed to be me?" I asked as Alfred took his phone back when a text message popped up.

"Yup, the skater kids love you. Especially the girls."

"Strange, having kids look up to me. Especially after what I've done." I muttered before returning my gaze back to the city. Many of the buildings suffered from the alien attack and just as much were destroyed when we were trying to save it. Many tall building were cut in half, stone, glass and dust decorated the ground and several streets had large gaping holes where Hulk smashed his hands down to kill the aliens. Scorch marks also decorated the cities building and I had to admit, I really wasn't paying attention to where I was throwing the fire balls.

"Hey you saved the city, that's all they care about. They think of you as a hero." Alfred smiled at me.

"Me a hero? I think you have me confused for someone else." I chuckled. "I'm not a hero, heroes don't exist Alfred."

"Well then, we'll have to prove you wrong." Arthur added this time, surprising me. "You saved people's lives Samantha, you're a hero in children's and teen's eyes. Just accept it and move on."

"Whatever," I chuckled before turning serious. "What will happen to the rest of us now that we're not really needed? Where would we go?" I asked wondering what I would do with my life now. I wasn't really fancy living back at SHIELD again and my apartment…well I'm pretty sure it's in rubbles now. I couldn't force myself to live with Arthur and Alfred, they've already done so much for me. Would I go back to being on the run?

"You're more than welcome to live with us," Arthur smiled, glancing at me through the car mirror, "We have extra space."

"Yeah and it'll be cool having you live with us."

"I don't think I can…I mean I really enjoy your company but I don't think I can force myself to just move in with you guys." I muttered softly. "It just…doesn't feel right."

"But Samantha—"

"Alfred, she made up her mind." Arthur sighed, surprising me with his acceptance. "Don't force her to do something she doesn't want to do."

"Wow, did I miss something or are you an alien in disguised?" I asked as I gave Arthur a wary glance. It wasn't like Arthur to give in so easily, but then again maybe he was softening up?

"Ha ha, I'm dying of laughter." Arthur grumbled as he stopped once again due to traffic. "Bloody hell when will this traffic clear up already!"

"But seriously Artie!" Alfred whined, not bothered by Arthur's temper, "She has to live with us—"

"She's a grown woman Alfred she can make her decisions on her own. We'll be there to support her in any way possible—Move it you bloody idiot!" Arthur snarled as the car in front didn't move. "I swear American traffic is worse than the United Kingdom's"

"Wait you're really ok with me doing things on my own right?" I asked wanting to make sure I heard him correctly. "Weren't you all 'no you need protection'" I said mocking Arthur with a very terrible British accent.

"Well…things have changed Samantha." Arthur began after hitting Alfred who burst out laughing at my accent. "I've…seen what you can do and what you're capable of. You don't need protection anymore and well…you can take care of yourself."

"I don't know whether I should be insulted that you didn't think I could take care of myself or happy that you're finally going to stop being a mother hen." I glared at Arthur, crossing my arms before smiling happily at him. "But thanks…it means a lot to me. But um…well are we there yet?" I sighed as we slowed down once again.

"Oh god please don't be like Alfred and continue to ask every five minutes." Arthur groaned as he stopped again due to traffic. "I can only deal with one of him."

"Hey!"

"Don't hey me young man! You very well know what I'm talking about! That road trip—"

"I was like ten Arty! What was I supposed to do? You took away my phone!" Alfred argued back.

"Exactly why I took it away! You were only ten!" I groaned softly to myself as I realized what I had just started and it was worse since we were stuck in traffic.

"Remind me never to drive with the two of you in the same car." I groaned as I stepped outside the car once we finally reached our destination. Unsurprisingly we were the last to arrive and Stark merely snickered as we walked towards them.

"Have a nice drive?"

"Save it Stark." Arthur growled out, "I don't want to deal with another child—"

"Hey!"

"If you three are done chatting," Fury interrupted, silencing the two SHIELD agents and Avenger member, "We're ready to see our lovely prisoner off." I looked up and saw a battered Loki wearing a mouth guard and cuffs on his hands while standing next to his brother. Thor on the other hand was completely healed and was holding the Tesseract in his hands.

"I am terribly sorry for the trouble my brother has done. I shall make sure that Loki pays for all of his crimes." Thor said as he held onto his brother who looked bored out of his mind already.

"Just make sure he won't escape." Fury said, looking at the two brothers. Thor nodded and turned around to look at his brother, holding up the Tesseract for his brother to hold onto. Before taking the all power cube, Loki looked up and made eye contact with every single one of the Avengers members before landing on me.

_You might want to reconsider your friends, Miss Subject 0002345. After all not all of them are telling you the truth._ Loki's voice chuckled inside my head. My eyes widen at Loki's who only smirked, well eye smirked, before grabbing onto the Tesseract. Before I could even utter a word, blue light surrounded the both of them and in less than a second, they disappeared.

"Something wrong Samantha?" Arthur asked as he turned around and saw my confused face. I said nothing for a few moments watching everyone else get into their cars or in Steve's case his motorcycle, before turning to Arthur and Alfred.

"No, I just…I'm glad it's just over that's all." I gave them a weak smile before turning to see the rest of the Avengers driving off. "But then at the same time…I'm sad that we're no longer a team anymore…"

"Don't worry Samantha, you'll have plenty of times to fight bad guys with them. You'll see them again don't worry." Alfred smiled as he slid his arm around my shoulder. Unable to stop myself from smiling from Alfred's contagious smile, I gave him a smiled back.

"Yeah I suppose you're right—"

"Peggy!" Steve shouted as he drove his motorcycle towards me, stopping a foot away. "I um…I guess I'll um—cough—see you soon?" He asked nervously, fiddling with his jacket. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess we'll see each other around some time. Maybe we can have lunch next week?" I asked hopeful that we could still stay as friends.

"About that…Peggy…I know it's a bit sudden and well…I'm going to travel the country and I wanted you to join me. That's if you want to." Steve finished slowly, his cheeks burning bright red. Not to brag but, it takes a great deal to make me speechless and well…Steve managed to not only make me speechless but he also set my stomach into a frenzy. I didn't know why I was feeling like that…I mean…he's a good friend but…could I really be falling for him? "Peggy?" Steve asked, shaking me out of my thoughts.

"I um…I…I feel honored that you would want to include me in your travels." I stuttered and I could feel my cheeks reddening as well. "But I um…have to um…decline." I finished, instantly feeling bad as I saw his hopeful face fall. He coughed for a moment before looking up at me again, forcing a smile on his face.

"Not that's fine. I mean I shouldn't have expected you to want to come with me by yourself. It wouldn't be proper—" I chuckled at his rationality of why I couldn't go. It was adorable to a certain extent, I mean I knew he grew up in the forties where manners were basically drilled into your head but this was the twenty first century.

"No...not that. It's just….I've been on the run for three years. I've seen my fair share of the country and…I just…after everything that's happened…I want to settle down for once. I don't want to feel afraid anymore…I don't feel afraid of Vash anymore. He…he can come down and try to take me away, but I'll be ready for him. I'm not scared of being kidnapped anymore and that's thanks to you and the Avengers. You…in a way…made me see what I'm capable of. Vash will have no chance." I smiled at Steve, who gave me a bright smile back. I looked at the rest of team to see them getting into their own cars and onto their own path. I really wished I could have said to them what I said to Steve, but I had a feeling I would have a chance in the future.

"I'm glad that you feel like that." I gave him a wave.

"Enough of this mushy stuff. Now you get going and visit this whole damn country. Make sure to send me some postcards wherever you go. Maybe you'll visit a place I haven't been to just yet." Steve immediately brightened up and gave me a sincere smile.

"I will Peggy. Well take care and I'll write to you soon. Um Where do I send the post—"

"Just send it to Stark tower. It'll give me a reason to constantly bug Mr. Stark instead of the other way around." I smiled as I lightly punched his shoulder. "Now get going Mr. Forty's man. You have a country to tour." Steve gave me a mock salute before turning on his motorcycle and heading towards the street. I continued to watch him until he turned a corner and he was no longer visible.

"So if you guys get married can I be the Best Man?" Alfred asked suddenly.

"WHAT!"

* * *

_**Three Months Later **_

"You know you should take a break and drink with me." Gilbert smirked as he took a sip of a shot glass before sighing. "Really Ele, take a break you've been working for like what eight hours without a break already?"

"If you had been listening you would have heard me tell you five minutes ago I was going to go to break in about 10 minutes," I frowned as I cleaned a glass cup before yelling at a body guard, "Oi break up that fight over there, I don't want any smashed tables tonight!" I sighed rubbing my forehead "How did Arthur managed this…and are you really going to call me that?" I pouted as I remembered the name Gilbert called me moments ago.

"Of course! Kesesese!" Gilbert laughed as the two body guards grabbed the brawling men and threw them out of the club. For a moment, only the music echoed throughout the club as the people watched the scene unfold before them before resuming their activities. "It's your new name now! Better than Avatar." I scowled as I remembered how Stark and Gilbert tried to come up with a "Proper" name for me. I refused to have Avatar as my name after seeing the cartoon version of the person.

"Why did you even come up with that name? Wait never mind, I don't want to know."

"So when are we leaving again?" Gilbert asked as he let himself another glass of whiskey. I quickly grabbed the bottle and placed it under the counter, ignoring his complaints.

"I'M leaving in an hour or so to the party, you can leave whenever you want. A matter of fact why don't you leave my bar—"

"Your bar? So you finally accepted Arthur's generous offer?" Gilbert smirked as he tried to preserve what little alcohol he had left. I huffed out in annoyance before muttering,

"Yes…he would have taken my board away if I didn't." Gilbert cracked a smile

"He always knew how to make a deal with anyone. Still can't believe he gave you the whole establishment. I mean yeah SHIELD is gonna take all of this time but I thought he would have still kept it as a side job." Gilbert muttered as he finished his last drop.

"Well technically it's not completely mine. I share it with Antonio until the end of March since he has more experience in managing than me." I chuckled as I remembered Arthur asking me to come to the Emerald Club one day and told Antonio and I that we shared ownership of the club. To say that we were both shocked was an understatement. Antonio actually tried to fight Arthur thinking it was another person who was "testing" us. Whatever that meant. While Antonio and Arthur were old friends didn't mean they got along all the time.

"Did someone say my name?" A green eyed, brown hair charismatic male smiled as he walked towards us. "Hola Gilbert, how are you doing?"

"Toni my man! Do you want to me for a drink? Since someone rather work than relax." Gilbert sighed dramatically at me. I rolled my eyes at his antics.

"Not this time Gilbert." Antonio sighed, "I must take responsibility of the club that is both mine and Samantha's."

"Wait you're actually going to work?" I asked surprised since all Antonio ever really did was sleep, flirt with women, waited occasional tables and slept some more. I didn't even know responsibility was in his vocabulary! "Oh, it's Romano isn't it?" I chuckled as I noticed Antonio staring at our newest employee Romano who was busy flirting with several women. Romano had somehow caught Antonio's eye as soon as he stepped into the club and since then Antonio's been trying to woo the poor Italian. But the feeling wasn't mutual. "So your newest plan to caught Romano's attention is to act like a proper boss?" I asked chuckling.

"Si, that should catch my Lovi's attention." Antonio sighed dreamily as both Gilbert and I snickered. Oh and did I mention that Romano hates that nickname? "So take the rest of the night off and get ready for that party Gilbert keeps talking about. But," Antonio leaned in closer to whisper in my ear. "Is it true that you're going to Stark's Christmas party? I thought you hated the man and how did you get invited to that?"

"That sadly wasn't by choice. I was forced by his secretary Pepper Potts. That woman has more power than you realize." I grumbled as I remember the day when Stark announced that he was having a party for the Avengers for Christmas. I immediately declined but Pepper…she had her way of convincing me to come. Damn that woman.

"And the two of you are going together?" Antonio asked before turning around facing Gilbert. "Don't deflower so soon Gilbert—"

"WE'RE NOT A COUPLE!" Gilbert and I shouted, both red in the face.

"Who are you trying to convince more? Me or yourself?" Antonio chuckled as he grabbed the glass cup I was cleaning earlier. "Everyone here at the bar thinks that both of you are together so—"

"And this is why I told you not to be so touchy with me!" I growled at Gilbert who nervously chuckled. Gilbert's….let's say he's a very touchy person. I had refused any touches from him in the beginning but eventually I grew used to his harassment. While that brought a less irritating Gilbert to the club, it sadly brought up rumors that Gilbert and I were dating. A rumor that both of us denied furiously. "I'm just so ugh! I'm going to change." I grumbled as I threw the towel at Antonio's laughing face, slamming close the employee's changing room as I entered.

A lot has happened since Loki's attack on Manhattan. For starters, I'm now living at Stark tower since my old apartment was destroyed and I really didn't fancy living at SHIELD anymore. Shocking I know and yes, it was very awkward during the first couple weeks living there. Sure Dr. Banner was nice company to have around but usually he stayed in his lab and I really didn't want to visit another lab that soon. However, due to his irregular sleeping habit's I often found him in the kitchen late at night grabbing a bite to eat. We would talk and at first it was minor things and eventually, we began talking about more personal things. I was glad I made a new friend.

Stark…well I guess he was nice to me, in his own snarky way. He would often join Dr. Banner and me in our late night chats and he would make a joke about me occasionally but they never really went far. Overall I grew tolerable towards his attitude and saw him as a good acquaintance (not yet friend since the both of us like to rile each other up once in a while) and accepted his company whenever.

As for the rest of the team, they went their separate ways. Steve, as you know, decided to tour the rest of America to see how much of the country had changed since WWII. He did invite me, but I declined. I already saw much of the world already and wanted to settle down for once. Steve sent me postcards of each state he visited since he left and as of now he's finishing up the West coast. Stark's picking him up in a private jet for the party.

Thor's back in Asguard wherever that is, to make sure Loki paid for his crimes. He said he would visit whenever he can but he has yet to visit us personally. He might make it to today's party since Stark invited the Norse God. How he reached the elusive member is beyond me, even Arthur has no clue how to contact him. That made Stark's day when he found out he had the upper hand on Arthur for once.

Barton and Romanoff, well they continue to work for SHIELD and are sent on a couple of missions monthly so I don't see them as often. But they do tend to visit Stark tower whenever they can. The SHILED assassins and I really didn't have much to talk about and at first most of our conversations were simple one worded answers. However, when Barton saw me create an ice arrow out of my water one day, he asked me if I could shoot it. He wanted to know who had a better aim. As of now, we're both tied, 22 to 22.

Romanoff on the other hand, the two of us talk about minor and relevant things whenever we get together. However, she made it a habit to take me out shopping at least twice a month to get more appropriate clothing. Not that I minded since Romanoff did have a rather good taste in clothing.

As for Arthur and Alfred, well they both work at SHIELD full time now which was why Arthur gave Antonio and I the club. I see them on weekends whenever they're not doing missions, when Arthur isn't busy trying to force Alfred to leave, or when they invite me for dinner. Usually it's takeout since one of them can cook to save their life. It felt…nice…like I was part of a family, an abnormal family, but a family nonetheless.

_And I see them all today…well it's going to be hectic that's for sure._ I thought as I finished changing into my normal attire and exited the employee room.

"Come on Ele! We're taking my car!" Gilbert laughed as he suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the back exit.

"Fine. Not like I have a choice anyways." I sighed as I let myself be pulled by the white albino. "Call me if anything comes up!" I shouted to Antonio who was already busy trying to get Romano's attention.

Ever since Loki's attack, and finding out where I worked, Gilbert's been visiting me ever since. Not that I mind…only when he's causing trouble with the other customers, it was nice to have someone always around and talk to just about anything. Eventually he became one of my most trusted friends that I would gladly put my life on the line to save. There was just something about him that seemed familiar that I could trust or something. He's the only one besides Alfred and Arthur that really knew what I went through at the hell hole…well I wouldn't put it past Stark to know either. That bastard probably hacked into SHIELD file about me—

"You're grumbling again. Thinking about Stark?" Gilbert snickered snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Just thinking how Stark probably already knows about my file since he probably hacked into SHIELD's database." I pouted. "Now eyes back on the road mister. I'm not going to save your ass if we get into a car crash."

"I can feel the love." Gilbert snorted rolling his eyes before doing what I asked him. "Now are you sure that's all on your mind? Cuz I have a feeling your thinking about a certain super soldier—OW GOD DAMN WOMAN YOUR'RE GOING TO MAKE ME CRASH!" Gilbert yelled as he regained control over the steering wheel after I punched him hard on the arm.

"Oh shut it. I'm not thinking about him, just how long it's been since we've all been together that's all." I grumbled, looking away from Gilbert's face.

"Uh-huh. Admit it, you like him more than a friend don't you."Gilbert sang as he pointed his finger at my obvious red face.

"S-shut up." I muttered weakly, embarrassed that Gilbert already knew of my crush on the certain super soldier…well rather Steve since I still held a sort of hatred to the super serum running throughout Steve's body. Without warning, the car screeched to a halt and I had to slam my hands on the dashboard to prevent my head from smashing the window.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US!" I shouted, glaring at Gilbert.

"Dude you told me to shut up without any force or threat. You know how freaked out I was when I processed that through my head? Did I cross the line or something?" I sighed at Gilbert's reaction. While I did appreciate his concern about me, I wasn't really that thankful that he nearly killed us. Thank goodness that there wasn't that much cars out.

"Drive and I'll tell you." I mumbled, already dreading what I was about to say. Nodding, Gilbert stepped off the brakes and continued to drive. "You…you didn't cross any line, it's just that…you're right….I do like him." I groaned as I hid my blushing face in my hands.

"So….I was right for once? Wow that's a first." Gilbert muttered before coughing out, "I mean well, that's great but um…there's more to this right?" I nodded.

"Yeah…I mean…what reason would he have to like me?" I asked, growing more self conscious by the second, "I'm not that pretty, I've lied to him, I've haven't been totally honest with him, and…he could so much better than a broken girl." I sighed,

"Whoa hold your horses there! You're hot as hell! Hell, if I wasn't trying to woo my Hungarian co-worker I would have totally gone after you." I chuckled at his enthusiasm. "And sure you've lied but who hasn't. And you're not broken—"

"That's not true. I am broken. I don't know how to trust people easily. It took me a while to trust you guys and even then I haven't told you everything!" I nearly shouted at Gilbert. "I'm a woman who's been poked at, experimented on, tortured, and forced to kill. I'm not like other woman—"

"Agent Romanoff's just like you. She's been taught to kill without mercy and she's been through rough times before she came to us. Steve likes her enough." Gilbert retaliated. I sighed.

"But I—"

"No more buts. You're fine just the way you are. And he would be an idiot if he doesn't figure that out, especially tonight."

"Wait why tonight? We're having a party not a date." I said, confused at Gilbert's statement.

"That's what you think. Kesesesese~!" Gilbert laughed hysterically as he stepped on the gas pedal and sped off towards Stark Tower.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY DATE!?"

* * *

"You look wonderful Ele." Arthur smiled as he and Alfred greeted me as I stepped off the elevator. Both had somehow came earlier than expected to the party and wore black matching tuxedos although, Alfred looked a bit more uncomfortable in them. "I didn't even think you would wear a dress." I scowled at his smirk.

"Well, when Pepper's involved it's hard not to do what she asks." I grumbled blushing. My evening dress, as Pepper puts it, was a modest, sleek one shoulder strap dress that went to my mid thigh. Pepper also managed to tame my hair enough to put it into an elegant bun, with some sort of chop sticks sticking out from my bun, and she also smoothed out my bangs so they would slant to the right. However, the arm warms that covered my arms were the best. Not only did they cover up my scars but they matched the color of my skin so it looked like I never had scars in the first place. Courtesy of Stark.

"Bless that woman, now only if she could make Stark do half the things he's been told." Arthur sighed before leading me to the "party" area. "Where's Gilbert? I thought he would be—"

"He said he forgot something at home and would be back later. Now leave me be as I try to make myself forget that I'm wearing a dress." I muttered as I grabbed a shot glass and filled it with one of the many alcohol beverages at the bar.

"Aw don't be like that Ele." Alfred whined as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Lighten up—"

"Yeah, Ele lighten up otherwise you might ruin the party." Stark's voice echoed as he, Pepper, and Dr. Banner entered the room. I frowned as I saw his smirk. He helped Gilbert planned this so called date with Steve too.

"Save it Stark.." I growled as I finished the rest of the drink. Both he and Dr. Banner both wore very stylish black Tuxedos while Pepper wore a very beautiful and back revealing turquoise dress.

"Now why so snarky? Could it be that you don't want me to ruin your date with—" Before he could even finish his sentence, I opened another bottle of alcohol and water whipped Stark in the face.

"I'm going to kill Gilbert for this," I muttered darkly as I heard Arthur, Alfred, Dr. Banner and Pepper laugh at Stark's dripping face.

"Talking about the awesome me?" Gilbert asked as he stepped off the elevator, making his presence known.

"I'm going to KILL YOU!" I growled out, really to whip out another water whip before noticing that Gilbert wasn't alone.

"Hello Peggy, it's been a while hasn't it." Steve smiled as he straightened out his army uniform that even though was out dated suited him. "You look…lovely."

"T-thanks. You look handsome yourself." I muttered looking away hoping that he hadn't noticed my blush. Gilbert smirked and quickly went to place his arms around my shoulders, probably to prevent me from running, that damn bastard.

"Jarvis, why don't you turn on the music? I think it's time that the party started." Stark smiled as he clapped his hand together as the music blasted through the ear piece.

"Let's dance Ele." Gilbert suddenly said as he gave my cheek a quick peck—something I've sadly grown accustomed to—and led me to the dancing area.

_Kill me now._ I groaned, blushing madly as I saw Steve's confused face. _Just kill me._

* * *

_**Third POV**_

Stark's Christmas party was well underway and within the hour since the AI started playing music the rest of the Avengers, including Barton, Romanoff, Fury, Agent Hill, and surprisingly Thor, arrived. Them and other people as well, since Stark failed to mention to everybody that he had invited more people, including his friend Rhodey. In less than an hour several dozen men and women entered the Stark tower and filled up the 34th floor where the party was held at. At least a dozen men and woman had walked up to Stark and chatted up the Billionaire while the rest went to chat up the other Avenger members.

Agent Romanoff and Barton were lucky enough to have escaped the crowds of people and were calmly talking to one another in a corner of the room where less people crowed the floor. Steve, stood off to the side, smiling awkwardly as he tried to converse with several woman trying to flirt with him. Thor laughed loudly as several woman giggled at the Norse god who told his fantastic tales of Asguard. Dr. Banner was in another corner of the room, talking quietly to Arthur who knew that the scientist didn't like big crowds and kept him company. Alfred on the other hand took this opportunity to chat up as much ladies as he could and despite the loud music, you could still hear Alfred's laugh.

Standing far from the crowds as possible was the newest Avengers member, Ele, glaring angrily at her albino friend as he came by to give her a drink. He ignored the angry glare and handed her the glass laughing joyfully. A few seconds later, Ele joined him in laughter and took the drink, gulping it down rather quickly, not minding as Gilbert wrapped his arms around her waist.

Steve had finally escaped the clutched of the woman in order to talk to the one he hadn't seen in months. However, he stopped in mid-step as he saw Ele talking and laughing freely with Gilbert, causing an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach. Before he could leave the two, a hand clasped around his shoulder. Looking back, he smiled softly at the somewhat close recruit.

"Hello Alfred, good to see you." Steve said, shaking hands with the blonde. Alfred smiled back.

"You too Steve….I can call you Steve right cause calling you Captain America sounds really formal and I'm not so sure you'd like that." Steve nodded, smiling at Alfred's enthusiasm. "Great! So you haven't talked to Ele yet?"

"Ele?" Steve asked, wondering who just Ele was.

"You know, Samantha, Peggy? She changed her name again…well only to us at least you know cause you guys all have super hero names. So Stark and Gilbert came up with Ele, you know for Elements and well the name stuck. But back at work she's still known as Samantha and you probably can still call her Peggy." Amazingly Steve had somehow managed to keep up with Alfred. He briefly wondered how Arthur dealt with the blonde boy on a daily basis. "So why haven't you talked to her just yet? You look like you want to." Steve sighed, nervously twitching his fingers.

"She seems to be having a great time with Gilbert. I wouldn't want to interrupt them. They seem really happy together." Steve finished lamely, blushing heavily. Alfred stood there a moment, wondering what the super soldier meant before looking back at Ele and Gilbert. Now that he really looked, to anyone else they looked like a couple.

"Wait you think they're together?" Alfred asked the blushing Steve. "You have nothing to worry about my friend." Alfred smiled as he began pushing the soldier towards the two. "Ele! Hey what's up!" Alfred smiled, waving excitedly at the older girl. Ele turned around and smiled at the both of them. For some reason, Ele's smile caused a blush on the super soldier.

"Alfred, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. And Steve…it's been a while hasn't it?" Ele asked turning her head a bit to the left in order to hide her blush. "h-how was your trip?" Steve coughed nervously as he tried to come up with an answer.

"It um was different. A lot has changed since I um last remembered it." Steve coughed. Ele gave him a sympathetic glance but before she could say anything, Gilbert interrupted her.

"Hey Ele! Can you get me some more Whiskey?" Ele rolled her eyes but smiled playfully as she grabbed Gilbert's empty glass and walked over to the bar. "Now that she's not here….I need you to be honest Stevey." Gilbert suddenly said, his tone turning rather serious as he looked directly to Steve.

"My name—"

"Do you love Ele?" That stopped Steve in his tracks, unsure how to answer that really. It wasn't that he didn't have feelings for the surprising Avenger but he wasn't sure if that was love. Could he really love again after Peggy Carter? Could he or was he doomed to be forever frozen in the past even though he lived in the future?

"I—uh—well—I"

"What brought this up Gil?" Alfred asked, confused by Gilbert's suddenly change in demeanor.

"Ele needs someone that will care for her, lover her for everything she is. She's been through hell and back over the past fourteen years. Ele needs someone who can repair the damage those damn scientists brought upon her. So I want to know if Steve is this person." Gilbert answered Alfred, never taking his eyes off Steve. "So Steve are you or are you—"

"Gil!" Ele shouted as she raced back to the three men, closing her newly acquired cell phone that Arthur supplied her with. "I need to take your car. Antonio locked himself in the supply room along with Romano and he left the key on the counter." Gilbert groaned childishly.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow? I bet you twenty bucks that the two of them are fucking—"

"GILBERT!" Ele shouted red in the face, along with Steve and Alfred.

"Fine, fine. But I'm driving. You can't drive for shit." Gilbert sighed as he went to grab his coat and keys. Ele rolled her eyes.

"One crash and I'm deemed a bad driver—"

"Most people don't crash at five mph…"

"Shut up you asshole." Ele grumbled. "We'll be back soon. Tell the others not to worry if they ask where we went. We can continue talking once we get back." Ele smiled at Steve who gave her a smile of his own, looking forward to the conversation.

"That sounds great."

"Come on Ele, the faster we leave the faster you can get back to kissing Steve—OW!" Gilbert cried as Ele punched him in the shoulder, before throwing him into the elevator.

"See!" Alfred smiled as the doors to the elevators closed, "Nothing to worry about. They're not together, just really good friends."

"Yeah I guess you're right." Steve muttered still looking at the closed elevator doors. For some reason, he just couldn't shake off the feeling that this may have been the last time he was going to see Ele.

He would see Ele again, just not the same Ele he knew.

* * *

"Can I ask you something?" Gilbert asked Ele as he drove through the nearly empty streets of Manhattan.

"It's not a love confession is it?" She asked smirking at the sputtering Albino.

"No!"

"Then just ask." Ele smiled.

"Fine…well let's just say you had a brother…a brother taken from you at a young age and you promised to get him back no matter the cost—"

"Are you talking about Alfred?" Ele teased, knowing how much Gilbert hate to be seen as Alfred's brother despite how much he acted like one whenever Arthur wasn't around.

"No! Sheesh woman let me finished." Ele placed her hand up in mock surrender and let the SHIELD agent continue. "Anyways, let say this brother made a deal with his younger brother's kidnapper and they promised to return him if he brought them a certain person that escaped them years before. But that certain person was the older brother's friend and didn't want to be taken back but—"

"The older brother did so anyway didn't he. To save his little brother, he sacrificed the trust he had with his friend." Ele said solemnly. Gilbert said nothing but it was enough for the elemental avenger to piece it together. "The younger brother was you. Your brother sacrificed his friendship with his friend to save you didn't he." Gilbert sighed.

"Yeah…and I'm not sure if he did so with his friend's permission or if he did so with him even knowing….and if so…did he hated my brother for doing so or…"

"I'm sure he understood what needed to be done and would have gladly gave up his life for you." Ele smiled softly at Gilbert. "I probably would have done the same if I was the friend."

"Even if the place was hell?" Ele nodded.

"A little kid should never have to experience trauma like that." For the rest of the car ride, the two of them stayed silent before Gilbert pulled up into the Emerald Club parking lot where two other cars were parked.

"You can stay here, I'll get the two knuckle heads out." Ele sighed as she grabbed her keys and left the car. I shouldn't be more than five minutes. Keep the car running." Gilbert nodded and watched as she entered the building before pulling out his phone.

"She's in."

* * *

_**Ele's POV**_

"Hey Antonio I'm here!" I called out as I entered the empty club. "Which storage room are you at?" Antonio never really did specify which storage room he was locked in and the club had several. I heard thumping to my right and sighed. Of course he would be in the storage room that held tomatoes.

"Hold your horses." I grumbled as I searched for the right key to open the door. As I got closer though, I could hear muffled screaming and frantic pounding.

_What in the world…could Gilbert have been right?_ I thought as I slowly placed the key in the slot and turned the doorknob slowly, not really wanting to see two males going at it. However, as I opened the door fully I was greeted with a different sight. Antonio was lying on the ground unconscious with blood coming from his head and Romano was tied up with a cloth wrapped around his mouth.

"Romano! What happened!" I asked as I kneeled down and quickly took off the cloth from his mouth. Once free from his restraint he gasped out,

"It's a trap! Some group of guys came here and knocked out Toni demanding where you were and then they locked us up here! You have to leave—CHIGI!" Romano screamed as a bullet flew past the two of us.

"We have to get out of here! Gilbert's in his car out front. Can you walk?" I asked Romano as I quickly ripped apart the ropes and quickly sent out a blast of wind to deflect several bullets coming from the back window.

"How—what—"

"CAN YOU WALK!" I screamed at the stuttering Italian who quickly nodded. "Good now stay low and I'll carry Antonio out of here—"

"Ele! Are you in here!" Gilbert yelled as he rushed into the bar, gun out.

"Back here!" I shouted as I covered Romano as another round of bullets fired on us. "Help me get them out of here!"

"No he's one of them! He knocked out Antonio!" Romano screamed as he crawled away from Gilbert as he reached me.

"What do you mean—ugh!" I screamed as I felt a syringe pierce my neck. I looked to my right and to my horror, Gilbert's hand was injecting the light purple liquid into my blood system. "Gil…why?" I asked as my eyes began to close.

"My brother…I needed to save him. I'm sorry." Gilbert whispered softly as he grabbed me and roughly dragged me out of the club, not even bothering with Romano or Antonio. As Gilbert kicked the door open I was greeted with several agents and Ludwig who smiled at Gilbert.

"Vash will be proud of your accomplishments…bruder." My head snapped up weakly at the word and looked at Gilbert's face for confrontation. He merely nodded. "Get her in the truck and secure her. I don't want her escaping before we reach headquarters." I could feel several bodies lifting me up as they threw me into the back of the trunk but instead of thinking about how Gilbert could do this to me, I thought back to the story Gilbert told me.

_Gilbert wasn't the little brother….he was the other brother. And now…I'm going back….going back to that hellhole….someone please help….help me please._

* * *

**And done. Well that took longer than I expected but I had a huge writer's block when I was writing the chapter. And sorry for any grammar mistakes. I hoped you guys enjoyed it and the plot twist I added. so what will happen next? Review and tell me what you think? **

**-midnightmich **


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